4 @settitle T-gnus 6.15 Manual
10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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284 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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293 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
295 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
298 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
299 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
300 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
301 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
302 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
303 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
304 License'' in the Emacs manual.
306 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
307 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
308 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
310 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
311 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
312 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
313 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
321 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
323 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
324 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
326 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
327 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
328 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
329 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
330 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
331 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
332 License'' in the Emacs manual.
334 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
335 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
336 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
338 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
339 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
340 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
341 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
347 @title T-gnus 6.15 Manual
349 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
352 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
353 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
355 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
357 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
358 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
359 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
360 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
361 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
362 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
363 License'' in the Emacs manual.
365 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
366 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
367 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
369 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
370 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
371 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
372 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
381 @top The gnus Newsreader
385 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using gnus. The news
386 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
387 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
390 T-gnus provides @sc{mime} features based on @sc{semi} API. So T-gnus
391 supports your right to read strange messages including big images or
392 other various kinds of formats. T-gnus also supports
393 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
394 API. So T-gnus does not discriminate various language communities.
395 Oh, if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
397 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.15.
408 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
409 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
411 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
412 being accused of plagiarism:
414 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
415 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
416 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
417 can even read news with it!
419 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
420 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
421 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
422 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
423 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
429 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
430 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
431 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
432 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
433 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
434 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
435 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
436 * Various:: General purpose settings.
437 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
438 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
439 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
440 * Key Index:: Key Index.
442 Other related manuals
444 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
445 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; MIME-specific parts.
446 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
447 * PGG:(pgg). PGP/MIME with Gnus.
450 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
454 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
455 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
456 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
457 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
458 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
459 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
460 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
461 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
462 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
463 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
464 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
468 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
469 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
470 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
474 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
475 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
476 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
477 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
478 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
479 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
480 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
481 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
482 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
483 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
484 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
485 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
486 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
487 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
488 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
489 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
490 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
494 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
495 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
496 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
500 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
501 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
502 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
503 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
504 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
508 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
509 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
510 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
511 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
512 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
516 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
517 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
518 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
519 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
520 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
521 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
522 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
523 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
524 * Threading:: How threads are made.
525 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
526 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
527 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
528 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
529 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
530 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
531 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
532 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
533 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
534 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
535 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
536 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
537 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
538 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
539 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
540 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
541 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
542 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
543 or reselecting the current group.
544 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
545 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
546 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
547 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
549 Summary Buffer Format
551 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
552 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
553 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
554 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
558 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
559 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
561 Reply, Followup and Post
563 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
564 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
565 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
566 * Canceling and Superseding::
570 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
571 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
572 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
574 * Generic Marking Commands::
575 * Setting Process Marks::
579 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
580 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
581 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
585 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
586 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
588 Customizing Threading
590 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
591 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
592 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
593 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
597 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
598 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
599 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
600 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
601 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
602 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
606 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
607 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
608 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
612 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
613 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
614 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
615 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
616 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
617 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
618 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
619 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
620 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
621 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
623 Alternative Approaches
625 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
626 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
628 Various Summary Stuff
630 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
631 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
632 * Summary Generation Commands::
633 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
637 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
638 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
639 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
640 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
641 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
645 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
646 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
647 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
648 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
649 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
650 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
651 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
652 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
656 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
657 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
658 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
659 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
660 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
661 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
662 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
663 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
667 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
668 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
669 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
670 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
671 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
672 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
673 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
677 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
678 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
682 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
683 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
684 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
688 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
689 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
690 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
691 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
692 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
693 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
694 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
695 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
696 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
697 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
698 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
699 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
700 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
704 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
705 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
706 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
708 Choosing a Mail Back End
710 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
711 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
712 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
713 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
714 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
715 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
716 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
721 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
722 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
723 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
724 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
725 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
726 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
730 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
731 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
732 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
733 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
734 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use IMAP namespace in Gnus.
738 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
739 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
740 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
741 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
742 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
746 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
750 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
751 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
752 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
756 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
757 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
761 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
762 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
763 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
764 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
765 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
766 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
767 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
768 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
769 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
770 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
771 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
772 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
776 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
777 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
778 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
782 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
783 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
784 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
788 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
789 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
790 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
791 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
792 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
793 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
794 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
795 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
796 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
797 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
798 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
799 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
800 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
801 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
802 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
803 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
804 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
808 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
809 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
810 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
811 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
815 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
816 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
817 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
821 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
822 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
823 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
824 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
825 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
826 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
827 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
828 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
829 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
830 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
831 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
832 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
833 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
834 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
835 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
836 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
837 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
838 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
839 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
843 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
844 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
845 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
846 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
847 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
848 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
849 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
850 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
854 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
855 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
856 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
857 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
861 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
862 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
863 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
864 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
865 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
866 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
870 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
871 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
872 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
873 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
874 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
875 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
876 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
877 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
878 * Frequently Asked Questions::
882 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
883 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
884 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
885 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
886 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
887 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
888 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
889 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
890 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
894 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
895 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
896 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
897 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
898 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
902 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
903 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
904 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
905 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
909 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
910 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
911 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
912 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
913 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
914 * Group Info:: The group info format.
915 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
916 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
917 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
921 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
922 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
923 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
924 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
925 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
926 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
930 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
931 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
935 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
936 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
942 @chapter Starting gnus
947 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
948 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
951 @findex gnus-other-frame
952 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
953 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
954 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
956 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
957 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
958 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
960 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
961 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
964 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
965 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
966 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
967 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
968 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
969 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
970 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
971 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
972 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
973 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
974 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
978 @node Finding the News
979 @section Finding the News
982 @vindex gnus-select-method
984 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
985 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
986 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
987 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
990 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
991 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
994 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
997 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1000 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1003 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1004 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1005 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1007 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1009 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
1010 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
1011 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1012 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1013 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
1014 that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
1016 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1017 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1018 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1019 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1021 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1022 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1023 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1024 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1025 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
1026 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1027 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1028 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1029 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1032 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1034 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
1035 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1036 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1037 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1038 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1039 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1041 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1043 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1044 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1045 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1046 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1047 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1048 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1051 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1052 you would typically set this variable to
1055 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1059 @node The First Time
1060 @section The First Time
1061 @cindex first time usage
1063 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
1064 be subscribed by default.
1066 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1067 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
1068 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1069 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1072 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1073 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1074 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1076 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
1077 help you with most common problems.
1079 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
1080 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1084 @node The Server is Down
1085 @section The Server is Down
1086 @cindex server errors
1088 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
1089 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1090 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
1092 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1093 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1094 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1095 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1096 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1097 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1098 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1100 @findex gnus-no-server
1101 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1103 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1104 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1105 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
1106 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1107 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1108 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1109 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1113 @section Slave Gnusae
1116 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
1117 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1118 are using the two different gnusae to read from two different servers),
1119 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1121 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1122 @file{.newsrc} file.
1124 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
1125 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1126 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1127 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1128 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1129 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1130 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1133 Anyway, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1134 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
1135 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1136 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1137 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
1138 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1139 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1140 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1142 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1143 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1145 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1146 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1147 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1148 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1149 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1151 @node Fetching a Group
1152 @section Fetching a Group
1153 @cindex fetching a group
1155 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1156 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1157 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
1158 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1159 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1160 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1166 @cindex subscription
1168 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1169 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1170 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1171 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1172 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1173 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1174 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1175 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1176 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1179 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1180 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1181 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1185 @node Checking New Groups
1186 @subsection Checking New Groups
1188 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1189 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1190 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1191 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
1192 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1193 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1194 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1195 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1196 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1197 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1199 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1200 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1201 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1202 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1203 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1204 work. I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server
1205 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1206 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1207 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1208 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1209 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1211 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
1212 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1213 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1214 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1215 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1216 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1219 @node Subscription Methods
1220 @subsection Subscription Methods
1222 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1223 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1224 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1226 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1227 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1229 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1233 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1234 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1235 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1236 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1237 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1239 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1240 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1241 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1242 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1244 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1245 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1246 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1248 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1249 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1250 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1251 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1252 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1253 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1254 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1255 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1256 up. Or something like that.
1258 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1259 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1260 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask
1261 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1262 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1264 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1265 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1266 Kill all new groups.
1268 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1269 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1270 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1271 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1272 topic parameter that looks like
1278 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1281 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1286 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1287 A closely related variable is
1288 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1289 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
1290 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1291 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1294 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1295 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1296 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1297 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1300 @node Filtering New Groups
1301 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1303 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1304 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1305 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1308 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1311 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1312 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1313 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1314 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1315 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1316 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1317 subscribing these groups.
1318 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1319 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1321 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1322 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1323 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1324 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1325 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1326 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1327 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1328 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1330 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1331 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1332 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1333 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1334 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1335 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1336 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1337 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1338 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1339 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1342 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1343 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1346 @node Changing Servers
1347 @section Changing Servers
1348 @cindex changing servers
1350 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1351 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1352 very flaky and you want to use another.
1354 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1355 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1359 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1360 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1361 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1362 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1365 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1366 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1367 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1368 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1370 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1371 @findex gnus-change-server
1372 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1373 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1374 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1375 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1376 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1378 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1379 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1380 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1381 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1382 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1384 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1385 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1386 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1387 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1388 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1389 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1391 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1392 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1393 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1394 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1396 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1397 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1398 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1399 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1400 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1401 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1402 cache for all groups).
1406 @section Startup Files
1407 @cindex startup files
1412 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1413 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1415 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1416 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1417 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1418 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1419 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1420 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1421 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1423 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1424 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1425 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1426 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1427 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1428 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1430 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1431 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1432 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1433 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1434 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
1435 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1436 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1437 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes gnus ignore the
1438 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1439 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1441 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1442 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1443 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1444 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1445 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1446 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1447 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1448 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1449 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1450 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1451 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1452 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1454 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1455 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1456 @vindex version-control
1457 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1458 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1459 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1460 If you want version control for this file, set
1461 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1462 @code{version-control} variable.
1464 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1465 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1466 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1467 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1468 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1469 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1470 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1471 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1472 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1473 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1476 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1477 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1479 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1480 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1483 @vindex gnus-init-file
1484 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1485 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1486 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1487 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1488 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1489 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1490 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1491 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1492 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1493 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1499 @cindex dribble file
1502 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
1503 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1504 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1505 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1506 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1509 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1510 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1513 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1514 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
1515 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1517 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1518 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1519 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
1520 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1521 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1522 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1524 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1525 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1526 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1529 @node The Active File
1530 @section The Active File
1532 @cindex ignored groups
1534 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1535 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1536 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1538 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1539 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
1540 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1541 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
1542 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1543 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1544 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1547 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1548 @c if you set it to anything else.
1550 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1552 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1553 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
1554 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1556 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1557 you actually subscribe to.
1559 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1560 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
1561 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
1562 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1564 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1565 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1566 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1567 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1568 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1569 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1571 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1572 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1573 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1576 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
1577 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1578 @sc{nntp} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1579 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1580 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1581 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1583 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1584 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1586 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1587 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1589 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1590 secondary select methods.
1593 @node Startup Variables
1594 @section Startup Variables
1598 @item gnus-load-hook
1599 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1600 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1601 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1602 times you start gnus.
1604 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1605 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1606 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1608 @item gnus-startup-hook
1609 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1610 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1612 @item gnus-started-hook
1613 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1614 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1617 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1618 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1619 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1620 generating the group buffer.
1622 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1623 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1624 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1625 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1626 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1627 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1628 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1629 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1631 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1632 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1633 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1634 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1635 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1636 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1638 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1639 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1640 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1642 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1643 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1644 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1646 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1647 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1648 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1649 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1655 @chapter Group Buffer
1656 @cindex group buffer
1658 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1660 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1661 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1662 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1663 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1664 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1665 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1666 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1667 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1668 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1669 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1670 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1671 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1672 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1673 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1674 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1675 @c human rights at 9...
1678 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1679 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1680 long as gnus is active.
1684 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1685 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1686 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1687 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1688 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1689 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1690 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1691 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1697 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1698 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1699 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1700 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1701 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1702 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1703 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1704 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1705 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1706 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1707 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1708 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1709 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1710 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1711 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1712 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1713 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1717 @node Group Buffer Format
1718 @section Group Buffer Format
1721 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1722 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1723 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1727 @node Group Line Specification
1728 @subsection Group Line Specification
1729 @cindex group buffer format
1731 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1732 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1734 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1737 25: news.announce.newusers
1738 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1743 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1744 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1745 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1746 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1748 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1749 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1750 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1751 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1752 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1753 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1755 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1757 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1758 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1759 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1760 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1761 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1763 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1764 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1765 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1767 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1772 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1775 Whether the group is subscribed.
1778 Level of subscribedness.
1781 Number of unread articles.
1784 Number of dormant articles.
1787 Number of ticked articles.
1790 Number of read articles.
1793 Number of unseen articles.
1796 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1797 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1799 Gnus uses this estimation because the @sc{nntp} protocol provides
1800 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1801 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1802 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1803 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1804 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1805 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1806 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1809 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1812 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1821 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1822 comment element in the group parameters.
1825 Newsgroup description.
1828 @samp{m} if moderated.
1831 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1837 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1843 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1847 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1850 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1851 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1852 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1853 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1854 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1857 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1859 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1863 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1866 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1870 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1871 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1872 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1873 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1874 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1875 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1880 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1881 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1882 group, or a bogus native group.
1885 @node Group Modeline Specification
1886 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1887 @cindex group modeline
1889 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1890 The mode line can be changed by setting
1891 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1892 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1896 The native news server.
1898 The native select method.
1902 @node Group Highlighting
1903 @subsection Group Highlighting
1904 @cindex highlighting
1905 @cindex group highlighting
1907 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1908 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1909 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1910 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1911 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1913 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1917 (cond (window-system
1918 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1919 (defface my-group-face-1
1920 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1921 (defface my-group-face-2
1922 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1923 (defface my-group-face-3
1924 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1925 (defface my-group-face-4
1926 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1927 (defface my-group-face-5
1928 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1930 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1931 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1932 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1933 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1934 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1935 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1938 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1940 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1947 The number of unread articles in the group.
1951 Whether the group is a mail group.
1953 The level of the group.
1955 The score of the group.
1957 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1959 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1960 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1962 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1963 topic being inserted.
1966 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1967 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
1968 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1970 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1971 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1972 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1973 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1974 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1977 @node Group Maneuvering
1978 @section Group Maneuvering
1979 @cindex group movement
1981 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1982 expected, hopefully.
1988 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1989 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1990 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1996 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1997 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1998 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2002 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2003 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2007 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2008 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2012 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2013 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2014 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2018 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2019 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2020 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2023 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2029 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2030 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2031 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2036 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2037 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2038 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2042 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2043 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2044 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2047 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2048 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2049 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2050 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2054 @node Selecting a Group
2055 @section Selecting a Group
2056 @cindex group selection
2061 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2062 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2063 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2064 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2065 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2066 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2067 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2068 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2069 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2070 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2072 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2073 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2074 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2076 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2077 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2082 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2083 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2084 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2085 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2086 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2090 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2091 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2092 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2093 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2094 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2095 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2096 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2097 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2098 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2099 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2102 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2103 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2104 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2105 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2106 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2109 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2110 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2111 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2112 doing any processing of its contents
2113 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2114 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2115 manner will have no permanent effects.
2119 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2120 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what gnus should consider
2121 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
2122 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
2123 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2124 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2125 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2126 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2129 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2130 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2131 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2132 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2133 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2134 Which article this is is controlled by the
2135 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2141 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2144 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2147 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2149 @item unseen-or-unread
2150 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2151 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2155 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2159 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2160 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2162 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2163 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2164 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2165 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2169 @node Subscription Commands
2170 @section Subscription Commands
2171 @cindex subscription
2179 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2180 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2181 Toggle subscription to the current group
2182 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2188 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2189 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2190 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2191 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2197 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2198 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2199 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2205 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2206 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2209 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2210 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2211 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2212 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2213 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2219 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2220 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2224 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2225 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2228 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2229 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2230 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2231 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2232 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2233 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2234 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2235 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2236 @file{.newsrc} file.
2240 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2250 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2251 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2252 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2253 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2254 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2255 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2260 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2261 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2262 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2266 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2267 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2268 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2270 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2271 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2272 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2273 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2274 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2275 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2282 @section Group Levels
2286 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2287 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2288 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2289 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2290 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2292 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2298 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2299 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2300 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2301 prompted for a level.
2304 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2305 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2306 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2307 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2308 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2309 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2310 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2311 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2312 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2313 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2314 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2315 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2316 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2317 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2318 reasons of efficiency.
2320 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2321 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2323 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2324 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2325 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2326 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2327 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2328 groups are hidden, in a way.
2330 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2331 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2332 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2333 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2334 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2335 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2337 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2338 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2339 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2340 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2341 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2342 list of killed groups.)
2344 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2345 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2346 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2348 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2349 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2350 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2351 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2352 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2353 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2354 relevant valid ranges.
2356 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2357 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2358 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2359 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2360 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2361 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2364 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2365 one with the best level.
2367 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2368 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2369 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2372 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2373 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2374 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2375 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2378 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2379 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2380 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2381 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2383 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2384 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2385 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2386 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2387 to 5. The default is 6.
2391 @section Group Score
2396 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2397 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2398 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2401 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2402 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2403 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2404 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2405 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2406 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2407 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2408 least significant part.))
2410 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2411 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2412 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2413 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2414 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2415 action after each summary exit, you can add
2416 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2417 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2418 slow things down somewhat.
2421 @node Marking Groups
2422 @section Marking Groups
2423 @cindex marking groups
2425 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2426 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2427 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2428 bidding on those groups.
2430 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2431 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2432 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2440 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2441 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2447 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2448 Remove the mark from the current group
2449 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2453 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2454 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2458 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2459 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2463 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2464 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2468 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2469 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2470 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2473 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2475 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2476 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2477 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2478 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2479 the command to be executed.
2482 @node Foreign Groups
2483 @section Foreign Groups
2484 @cindex foreign groups
2486 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2487 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2488 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2489 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2496 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2497 @cindex making groups
2498 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2499 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2500 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2504 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2505 @cindex renaming groups
2506 Rename the current group to something else
2507 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2508 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2514 @findex gnus-group-customize
2515 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2519 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2520 @cindex renaming groups
2521 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2522 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2526 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2527 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2528 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2532 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2533 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2534 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2538 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2540 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2541 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2546 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2547 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2551 @cindex (ding) archive
2552 @cindex archive group
2553 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2554 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2555 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2556 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2557 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2558 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2559 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2563 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2565 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2566 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2567 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2568 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2572 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2574 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2575 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2576 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2580 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2581 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2583 Make a group based on some file or other
2584 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2585 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2586 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2587 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2588 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2589 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2590 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2591 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2592 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2596 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2597 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2598 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2599 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2603 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2607 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2608 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2609 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2610 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2611 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2612 @xref{Web Searches}.
2614 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2615 to a particular group by using a match string like
2616 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2619 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2620 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2621 This function will delete the current group
2622 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2623 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2624 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2625 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2626 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2630 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2631 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2632 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2636 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2637 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2638 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2641 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2644 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2645 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2646 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2647 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2648 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2649 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2653 @node Group Parameters
2654 @section Group Parameters
2655 @cindex group parameters
2657 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2658 Here's an example group parameter list:
2661 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2665 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2666 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2667 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2668 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2670 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2671 is an alist of regexps and values.
2673 The following group parameters can be used:
2678 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2681 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2684 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2685 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2686 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2687 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2688 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2690 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2691 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2692 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2693 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2694 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2695 list address instead.
2697 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2701 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2704 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2707 It is totally ignored
2708 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2709 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2711 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2712 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2713 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2714 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2715 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2717 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2718 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2719 sending the message.
2721 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2722 @cindex Mail List Groups
2723 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2724 entering summary buffer.
2726 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2731 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2732 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2733 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2734 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2735 headers for your posts to these lists. Look here @pxref{Mailing
2736 Lists, , Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual} for a complete
2737 treatment of available MFT support.
2739 See also @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses}, the function that
2740 directly uses this group parameter.
2744 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2745 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2746 of whether it has any unread articles.
2748 @item broken-reply-to
2749 @cindex broken-reply-to
2750 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2751 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2752 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2753 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2754 broken behavior. So there!
2758 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2759 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2763 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2764 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2765 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2770 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2771 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2772 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2773 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2774 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2775 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2776 (@pxref{Archived Messages}). CAVEAT:: It yields an error putting
2777 @code{(gcc-self . t)} in groups of a @code{nntp} server or so, because
2778 a @code{nntp} server doesn't accept articles.
2782 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2783 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2784 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2786 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2789 @cindex total-expire
2790 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2791 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2792 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2793 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2796 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2800 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2801 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2802 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2803 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2804 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2805 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2806 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2809 @cindex score file group parameter
2810 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2811 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2812 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2815 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2816 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2817 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2818 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2821 @cindex admin-address
2822 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2823 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2824 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2825 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2829 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2830 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2834 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2837 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2838 entering the group with C-u @var{integer}.
2841 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2845 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2847 Here are some examples:
2851 Display only unread articles.
2854 Display everything except expirable articles.
2856 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2857 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2861 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2862 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2863 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2864 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2865 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2869 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2870 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2871 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2875 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2876 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2877 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2881 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2882 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2883 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2885 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2887 @item ignored-charsets
2888 @cindex ignored-charset
2889 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2890 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2891 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2893 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2896 @cindex posting-style
2897 You can store additional posting style information for this group
2898 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2899 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2900 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2901 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2903 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2904 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2905 like this in the group parameters:
2910 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
2911 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2916 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2917 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2921 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2922 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2923 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2924 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2925 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2929 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2930 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2931 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2932 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2934 For example, if the INBOX.list.sieve group has the @code{(sieve
2935 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2936 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2937 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2940 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2941 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2945 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, , Top, sieve,
2948 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2949 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2950 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2951 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2952 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2953 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2954 @code{eval}ed there.
2956 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
2957 A use for this feature, is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
2958 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
2959 @samp{nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps} has the tag
2960 @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this tag can be
2961 removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for the group by
2962 putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")} into the group
2963 parameters for the group.
2966 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2967 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2968 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2969 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2970 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2974 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2975 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2976 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2977 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2978 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2980 @vindex gnus-parameters
2981 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
2982 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
2986 (setq gnus-parameters
2988 (gnus-show-threads nil)
2989 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
2990 (gnus-summary-line-format
2991 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
2995 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
2999 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3003 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3006 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3007 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3010 @node Listing Groups
3011 @section Listing Groups
3012 @cindex group listing
3014 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3022 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3023 List all groups that have unread articles
3024 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3025 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3026 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
3027 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3034 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3035 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3036 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3037 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3038 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3039 unsubscribed groups).
3043 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3044 List all unread groups on a specific level
3045 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3046 with no unread articles.
3050 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3051 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3052 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3053 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3058 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3059 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3063 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3064 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3065 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3069 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3070 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3074 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3075 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3076 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3077 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3078 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3079 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3080 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3081 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3085 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3086 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3087 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3091 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3092 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3093 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3097 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3098 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3102 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3103 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3107 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3108 List groups limited within the current selection
3109 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3113 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3114 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3118 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3119 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3123 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3124 @cindex visible group parameter
3125 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3126 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3127 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3128 get the same effect.
3130 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3131 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3132 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3133 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3134 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3137 @node Sorting Groups
3138 @section Sorting Groups
3139 @cindex sorting groups
3141 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3142 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3143 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3144 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3145 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3146 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3151 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3152 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3153 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3155 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3156 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3157 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3159 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3160 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3161 Sort by group level.
3163 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3164 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3165 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3167 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3168 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3169 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3170 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3172 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3173 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3174 Sort by number of unread articles.
3176 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3177 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3178 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3180 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3181 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3182 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3187 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3188 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3192 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3193 some sorting criteria:
3197 @kindex G S a (Group)
3198 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3199 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3200 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3203 @kindex G S u (Group)
3204 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3205 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3206 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3209 @kindex G S l (Group)
3210 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3211 Sort the group buffer by group level
3212 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3215 @kindex G S v (Group)
3216 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3217 Sort the group buffer by group score
3218 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3221 @kindex G S r (Group)
3222 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3223 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3224 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3227 @kindex G S m (Group)
3228 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3229 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name
3230 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3233 @kindex G S n (Group)
3234 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3235 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3236 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3240 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3241 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3243 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3244 commands will sort in reverse order.
3246 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3250 @kindex G P a (Group)
3251 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3252 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3253 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3256 @kindex G P u (Group)
3257 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3258 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3259 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3262 @kindex G P l (Group)
3263 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3264 Sort the groups by group level
3265 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3268 @kindex G P v (Group)
3269 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3270 Sort the groups by group score
3271 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3274 @kindex G P r (Group)
3275 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3276 Sort the groups by group rank
3277 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3280 @kindex G P m (Group)
3281 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3282 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name
3283 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3286 @kindex G P n (Group)
3287 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3288 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3289 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3292 @kindex G P s (Group)
3293 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3294 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3298 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3302 @node Group Maintenance
3303 @section Group Maintenance
3304 @cindex bogus groups
3309 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3310 Find bogus groups and delete them
3311 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3315 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3316 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3317 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3318 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3319 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3323 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3324 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3325 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3326 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3327 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3328 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3331 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3332 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3333 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3334 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3339 @node Browse Foreign Server
3340 @section Browse Foreign Server
3341 @cindex foreign servers
3342 @cindex browsing servers
3347 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3348 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3349 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3350 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3353 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3354 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3355 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3356 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3358 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3363 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3364 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3368 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3369 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3372 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3373 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3374 Enter the current group and display the first article
3375 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3378 @kindex RET (Browse)
3379 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3380 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3384 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3385 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3386 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3392 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3393 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3397 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3398 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3402 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3403 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3404 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3409 @section Exiting gnus
3410 @cindex exiting gnus
3412 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
3417 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3418 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
3419 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3420 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3424 @findex gnus-group-exit
3425 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3426 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3430 @findex gnus-group-quit
3431 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3432 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3435 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3436 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3437 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3438 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
3439 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
3440 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3445 If you wish to completely unload gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3446 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3447 trying to customize meta-variables.
3452 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3453 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3454 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3460 @section Group Topics
3463 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3464 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3465 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3466 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3467 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3468 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3472 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3473 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3484 2: alt.religion.emacs
3487 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3489 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3490 13: comp.sources.unix
3493 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3495 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3496 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3497 is a toggling command.)
3499 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3500 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3501 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3502 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3505 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3506 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3507 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3510 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3514 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3515 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3516 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3517 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3518 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3522 @node Topic Commands
3523 @subsection Topic Commands
3524 @cindex topic commands
3526 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3527 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3528 definitions slightly.
3530 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3531 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3532 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3533 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3534 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3535 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3537 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3544 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3545 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3546 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3550 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3552 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3553 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3554 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3555 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3558 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3559 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3560 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3561 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3565 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3566 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3567 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3568 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3574 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3575 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3576 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3580 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3581 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3582 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3585 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3586 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the `cut' part of cut and paste. Then,
3587 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the `Gnus'
3588 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the `paste' part of cut and
3589 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3591 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3592 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3596 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3597 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3604 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3606 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3607 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3608 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3609 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3610 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3611 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3615 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3621 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3622 Move the current group to some other topic
3623 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3624 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3628 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3629 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3633 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3634 Copy the current group to some other topic
3635 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3636 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3640 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3641 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3642 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3646 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3647 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3648 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3652 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3653 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3654 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3655 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3656 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3657 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3658 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3661 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3662 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3666 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3667 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3668 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3672 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3673 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3674 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3678 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3679 Toggle hiding empty topics
3680 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3684 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3685 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3686 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3687 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3690 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3691 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3692 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3693 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3694 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3697 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3698 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3699 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3700 expiry process (if any)
3701 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3705 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3706 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3709 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3710 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3711 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3715 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3716 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3717 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3720 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3721 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3722 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3725 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3726 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3727 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3731 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3732 @cindex group parameters
3733 @cindex topic parameters
3735 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3736 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3741 @node Topic Variables
3742 @subsection Topic Variables
3743 @cindex topic variables
3745 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3746 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3748 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3749 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3750 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3763 Number of groups in the topic.
3765 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3767 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3770 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3771 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3772 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3775 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3776 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3778 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3779 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3780 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3784 @subsection Topic Sorting
3785 @cindex topic sorting
3787 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3793 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3794 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3795 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3796 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3799 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3800 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3801 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3802 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3805 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3806 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3807 Sort the current topic by group level
3808 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3811 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3812 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3813 Sort the current topic by group score
3814 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3817 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3818 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3819 Sort the current topic by group rank
3820 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3823 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3824 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3825 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3826 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3829 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3830 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3831 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3832 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3836 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3837 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3838 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3839 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3843 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3844 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3848 @node Topic Topology
3849 @subsection Topic Topology
3850 @cindex topic topology
3853 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3859 2: alt.religion.emacs
3862 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3864 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3865 13: comp.sources.unix
3868 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3869 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3870 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3875 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3876 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3880 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3881 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3882 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3883 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3884 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3885 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3887 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3888 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3889 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3892 @node Topic Parameters
3893 @subsection Topic Parameters
3894 @cindex topic parameters
3896 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3897 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3898 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3900 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3905 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3906 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3907 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3910 @item subscribe-level
3911 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3912 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3913 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3917 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3918 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3919 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3920 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3926 2: alt.religion.emacs
3930 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3932 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3933 13: comp.sources.unix
3937 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3938 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3939 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3940 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3941 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3942 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3944 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3945 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3946 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3947 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3948 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3950 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3951 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3952 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3953 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3954 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3955 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3956 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3957 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3960 @node Misc Group Stuff
3961 @section Misc Group Stuff
3964 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3965 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3966 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3967 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3968 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
3975 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3976 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3977 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3981 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3982 Start composing a message (a news by default)
3983 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
3984 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
3985 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
3986 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
3987 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3991 @findex gnus-group-mail
3992 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
3993 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
3994 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
3995 @xref{Composing Messages}.
3999 @findex gnus-group-news
4000 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
4001 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
4002 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4004 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4005 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
4006 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4007 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4008 for this to work though.
4012 Variables for the group buffer:
4016 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4017 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4018 is called after the group buffer has been
4021 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4022 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4023 is called after the group buffer is
4024 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4027 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4028 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4029 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4030 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4032 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4033 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4034 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4035 whether they are empty or not.
4037 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4038 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4039 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4040 non-ASCII group names.
4044 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4045 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4048 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4049 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4050 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4051 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4052 is used to show non-ASCII group names. @code{((".*" utf-8))} is the
4053 default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the default is
4058 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4059 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4064 @node Scanning New Messages
4065 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4066 @cindex new messages
4067 @cindex scanning new news
4073 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4074 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4075 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4076 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4077 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4078 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4083 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4084 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4085 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4086 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4087 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4088 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4089 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4091 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4092 @cindex activating groups
4094 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4095 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4100 @findex gnus-group-restart
4101 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4102 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4103 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
4107 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4108 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4110 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4111 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4115 @node Group Information
4116 @subsection Group Information
4117 @cindex group information
4118 @cindex information on groups
4125 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4126 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4129 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
4130 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
4131 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
4132 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
4133 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4134 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
4135 for fetching the file.
4137 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
4138 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4142 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4143 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4145 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4146 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4149 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4150 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4151 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4155 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4156 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4157 @cindex control message
4158 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4159 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4160 group if given a prefix argument.
4162 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4163 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4164 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4165 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4167 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4168 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
4169 Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
4173 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4175 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4176 @cindex describing groups
4177 @cindex group description
4178 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4179 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4180 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4184 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4185 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4186 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4193 @findex gnus-version
4194 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4198 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4199 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4202 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4205 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4206 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4210 @node Group Timestamp
4211 @subsection Group Timestamp
4213 @cindex group timestamps
4215 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
4216 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4217 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4220 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4223 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4225 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4226 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4229 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4230 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4233 This will result in lines looking like:
4236 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4237 0: custom 19961002T012713
4240 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4241 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4245 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4246 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4249 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4250 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4254 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4255 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4256 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4257 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4259 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4265 @subsection File Commands
4266 @cindex file commands
4272 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4273 @vindex gnus-init-file
4274 @cindex reading init file
4275 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4276 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4280 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4281 @cindex saving .newsrc
4282 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4283 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4284 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4287 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4288 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4289 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4294 @node Sieve Commands
4295 @subsection Sieve Commands
4296 @cindex group sieve commands
4298 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4299 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4300 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4301 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4302 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4304 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4305 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4306 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4307 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4308 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4309 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4310 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4311 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4312 regenerate the Sieve script.
4314 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4315 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4316 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4317 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4318 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4319 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4320 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4321 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4322 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4323 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4326 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4327 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4332 @xref{Top, ,Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4338 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4339 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4340 @cindex generating sieve script
4341 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4342 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4346 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4347 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4348 @cindex updating sieve script
4349 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4350 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4351 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4356 @node Summary Buffer
4357 @chapter Summary Buffer
4358 @cindex summary buffer
4360 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4361 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4363 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4364 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4366 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4369 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4370 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4371 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4372 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4373 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4374 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4375 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4376 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4377 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4378 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4379 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4380 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4381 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4382 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4383 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4384 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4385 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4386 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4387 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4388 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4389 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4390 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4391 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4392 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4393 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4394 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4395 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4396 or reselecting the current group.
4397 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4398 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4399 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4400 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4404 @node Summary Buffer Format
4405 @section Summary Buffer Format
4406 @cindex summary buffer format
4410 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4411 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4412 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4418 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4419 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4420 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4421 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4424 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4425 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4426 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4427 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4428 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4429 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
4430 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4431 fast, and too simplistic solution;
4432 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
4433 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
4434 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
4435 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
4436 other function instead:
4439 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4440 'mail-extract-address-components)
4443 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4444 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4445 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4446 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4449 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4450 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4452 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4453 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4454 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4455 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4456 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4458 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4459 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4460 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4461 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4462 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4463 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4465 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4467 The following format specification characters and extended format
4468 specification(s) are understood:
4474 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4475 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4477 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4478 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4479 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4481 Full @code{From} header.
4483 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4485 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4488 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4489 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4490 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4491 may be more thorough.
4493 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4496 Number of lines in the article.
4498 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4499 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4501 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4502 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4504 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4506 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4507 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4520 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4521 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4522 replacing the default ASCII characters with graphic line-drawing
4525 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4526 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4527 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4528 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4530 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4531 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4532 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4533 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4535 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4536 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4537 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4539 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4540 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4541 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4543 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4544 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4545 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4547 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4548 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4549 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4554 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4555 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4557 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4558 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4560 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4561 for adopted articles.
4563 One space for each thread level.
4565 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4567 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4570 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4571 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4572 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4575 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4577 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4578 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4579 default level. If the difference between
4580 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4581 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4589 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4591 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4597 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4598 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4600 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4601 article has any children.
4607 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4608 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4610 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4611 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4612 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4613 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4614 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4615 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4618 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4619 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4620 There can only be one such area.
4622 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4623 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
4624 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4625 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4626 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4627 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4629 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4630 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4632 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
4635 @node To From Newsgroups
4636 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4640 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4641 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4642 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4643 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4644 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4648 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4649 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4650 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4654 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4655 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4658 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4659 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4662 @findex gnus-extra-header
4663 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4664 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4665 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4668 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4672 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4673 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4674 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4675 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4676 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4677 headers are used instead.
4681 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4682 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4683 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files.
4684 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
4685 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
4686 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
4689 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4690 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4691 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4692 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4694 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4698 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4700 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4701 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4702 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4703 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4707 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4710 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4711 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4714 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4715 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4716 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4722 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4723 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4726 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4727 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4729 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4730 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4731 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4732 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4734 Here are the elements you can play with:
4740 Unprefixed group name.
4742 Current article number.
4744 Current article score.
4748 Number of unread articles in this group.
4750 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4753 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4754 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4755 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4756 and no unselected ones.
4758 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4759 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4761 Subject of the current article.
4763 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4765 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4767 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4769 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4771 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4773 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4777 @node Summary Highlighting
4778 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4782 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4783 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4784 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4785 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4786 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4788 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4789 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4790 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4791 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4793 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4794 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4795 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4796 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4798 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4799 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4800 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4801 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4802 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4803 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4806 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4807 ((> score default) . bold))
4809 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4810 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4814 @node Summary Maneuvering
4815 @section Summary Maneuvering
4816 @cindex summary movement
4818 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4819 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4821 None of these commands select articles.
4826 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4827 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4828 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4829 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4830 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4834 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4835 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4836 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4837 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4838 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4841 @kindex G g (Summary)
4842 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4843 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4844 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4847 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4848 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4849 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4850 to the group buffer.
4852 Variables related to summary movement:
4856 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4857 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4858 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4859 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
4860 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4861 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4862 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
4863 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4864 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4865 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4866 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4867 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4868 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4869 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4871 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4872 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4873 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4874 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4875 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4876 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4877 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4879 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4881 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4882 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4883 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4884 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4885 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4887 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4888 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4889 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4890 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4891 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4892 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4893 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4894 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4897 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4898 the given number of lines from the top.
4903 @node Choosing Articles
4904 @section Choosing Articles
4905 @cindex selecting articles
4908 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4909 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4913 @node Choosing Commands
4914 @subsection Choosing Commands
4916 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4917 and they all select and display an article.
4919 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4920 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4924 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4925 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4926 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4927 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4929 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
4930 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
4931 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @pxref{Paging the Article}.
4936 @kindex G n (Summary)
4937 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4938 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4939 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4944 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4945 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4946 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4951 @kindex G N (Summary)
4952 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4953 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4958 @kindex G P (Summary)
4959 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4960 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4963 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4964 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4965 Go to the next article with the same subject
4966 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4969 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4970 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4971 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4972 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4976 @kindex G f (Summary)
4978 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4979 Go to the first unread article
4980 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4984 @kindex G b (Summary)
4986 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4987 Go to the unread article with the highest score
4988 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
4989 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
4994 @kindex G l (Summary)
4995 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4996 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4999 @kindex G o (Summary)
5000 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
5002 @cindex article history
5003 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
5004 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
5005 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
5006 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
5007 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
5008 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5013 @kindex G j (Summary)
5014 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5015 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5016 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5021 @node Choosing Variables
5022 @subsection Choosing Variables
5024 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5027 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5028 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5029 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5030 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5031 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5032 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5034 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5035 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5036 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
5037 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. If you would
5038 like each article to be saved in the Agent as you read it, putting
5039 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this hook will do so.
5041 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5042 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5043 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5044 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5045 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5046 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5047 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5048 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5049 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
5050 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5051 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5052 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5053 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5054 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5059 @node Paging the Article
5060 @section Scrolling the Article
5061 @cindex article scrolling
5066 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5067 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5068 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5069 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5070 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5072 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
5073 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
5074 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
5075 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
5076 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
5077 what is considered uninteresting with
5078 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
5079 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
5082 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5083 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5084 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5087 @kindex RET (Summary)
5088 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5089 Scroll the current article one line forward
5090 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5093 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5094 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5095 Scroll the current article one line backward
5096 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5100 @kindex A g (Summary)
5102 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5103 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5104 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5105 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5106 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5107 the way it came from the server.
5109 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5110 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5111 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5114 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5119 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5124 @kindex A < (Summary)
5125 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5126 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5127 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5132 @kindex A > (Summary)
5133 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5134 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5138 @kindex A s (Summary)
5140 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5141 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5142 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5146 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5147 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5152 @node Reply Followup and Post
5153 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5156 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5157 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5158 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5159 * Canceling and Superseding::
5163 @node Summary Mail Commands
5164 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5166 @cindex composing mail
5168 Commands for composing a mail message:
5174 @kindex S r (Summary)
5176 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5177 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5178 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5179 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5180 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5185 @kindex S R (Summary)
5186 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5187 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5188 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5189 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5190 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5193 @kindex S w (Summary)
5194 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5195 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5196 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5197 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5198 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
5201 @kindex S W (Summary)
5202 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5203 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5204 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5205 the process/prefix convention.
5208 @kindex S v (Summary)
5209 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5210 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5211 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5212 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5213 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5214 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5217 @kindex S V (Summary)
5218 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5219 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5220 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5221 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5224 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5225 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5226 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5227 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5230 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5231 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5232 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5233 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5234 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5238 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5239 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5240 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5241 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5242 Forward the current article to some other person
5243 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5244 headers of the forwarded article.
5249 @kindex S m (Summary)
5250 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5251 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5252 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5253 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5254 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5259 @kindex S i (Summary)
5260 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5261 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5262 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5263 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5265 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5266 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5267 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5268 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5269 for this to work though.
5272 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5273 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5274 @cindex bouncing mail
5275 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5276 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5277 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5278 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5279 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5280 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
5281 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5282 very well fail, though.
5285 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5286 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5287 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5288 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5289 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5290 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5291 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5292 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5293 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5294 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5296 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5297 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5298 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5299 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5300 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5302 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5303 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5306 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5307 @findex gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward
5308 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5309 result using mail (@code{gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward}). This
5310 command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5313 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5314 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5315 @cindex crossposting
5316 @cindex excessive crossposting
5317 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5318 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5320 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5321 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5322 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5323 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5324 command understands the process/prefix convention
5325 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5329 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5330 Manual}, for more information.
5333 @node Summary Post Commands
5334 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5336 @cindex composing news
5338 Commands for posting a news article:
5344 @kindex S p (Summary)
5345 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5346 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5347 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5348 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5349 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5354 @kindex S f (Summary)
5355 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5356 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5357 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5361 @kindex S F (Summary)
5363 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5364 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5365 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5366 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5367 process/prefix convention.
5370 @kindex S n (Summary)
5371 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5372 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5373 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5376 @kindex S N (Summary)
5377 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5378 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5379 message through mail and include the original message
5380 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5381 the process/prefix convention.
5384 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5385 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5386 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5387 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5388 headers of the forwarded article.
5391 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5392 @findex gnus-summary-digest-post-forward
5394 @cindex making digests
5395 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5396 (@code{gnus-summary-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
5397 process/prefix convention.
5400 @kindex S u (Summary)
5401 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5402 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5403 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5404 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5407 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5408 Manual}, for more information.
5411 @node Summary Message Commands
5412 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5416 @kindex S y (Summary)
5417 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5418 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5419 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5420 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5421 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5426 @node Canceling and Superseding
5427 @subsection Canceling Articles
5428 @cindex canceling articles
5429 @cindex superseding articles
5431 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5432 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5434 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5436 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5438 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5439 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5440 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5441 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5442 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5443 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5445 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5446 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5449 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5450 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5451 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5453 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5454 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5455 your original article.
5457 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5459 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5460 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5461 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5464 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5465 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5466 have posted almost the same article twice.
5468 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5469 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5470 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5471 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5472 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5473 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5474 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5475 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5476 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5477 canceled/superseded.
5479 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5481 @node Delayed Articles
5482 @section Delayed Articles
5483 @cindex delayed sending
5484 @cindex send delayed
5486 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5487 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5488 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5489 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5492 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5495 @findex gnus-delay-article
5496 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5497 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5498 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5499 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5503 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5504 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5505 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5506 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5509 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5510 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5511 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5514 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5515 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5516 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5517 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5518 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5519 that means a time tomorrow.
5522 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5523 couple of variables:
5526 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5527 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5528 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5529 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5531 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5532 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5533 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5534 formats described above.
5536 @item gnus-delay-group
5537 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5538 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5539 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5540 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5542 @item gnus-delay-header
5543 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5544 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5545 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5546 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5549 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5550 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5551 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5552 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5553 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5555 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
5556 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5557 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5558 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5559 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5560 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5561 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5564 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5565 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5567 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5568 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5569 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5570 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5571 argument is ignored.
5573 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5574 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5575 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5579 @node Marking Articles
5580 @section Marking Articles
5581 @cindex article marking
5582 @cindex article ticking
5585 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5587 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5588 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5589 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5591 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5594 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5595 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5596 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5600 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5604 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5605 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5606 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5610 @node Unread Articles
5611 @subsection Unread Articles
5613 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5618 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5619 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5621 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5622 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5623 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5624 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5625 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5626 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5627 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5630 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5631 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5633 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5634 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5635 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5636 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5640 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5641 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5643 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5648 @subsection Read Articles
5649 @cindex expirable mark
5651 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5656 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5657 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5658 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5661 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5662 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5665 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5666 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5667 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5670 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5671 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5674 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5675 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5678 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5679 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5682 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5683 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5686 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5687 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5690 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5691 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5694 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5695 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5699 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5700 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5701 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5705 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5706 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5708 One more special mark, though:
5712 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5713 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5715 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5716 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5717 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5718 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
5724 @subsection Other Marks
5725 @cindex process mark
5728 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5734 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5735 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5736 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5737 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5738 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5741 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5742 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5743 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5744 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5747 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5748 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5749 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5752 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5753 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5754 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5757 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5758 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5759 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5760 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5763 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5764 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5765 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5766 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5767 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5768 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5771 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5772 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5773 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5774 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5777 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
5778 When using the Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics}, articles may be
5779 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
5780 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
5781 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
5785 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5786 When using the Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics}, some articles might
5787 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
5788 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
5789 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
5790 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
5793 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5794 The Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics} downloads some articles
5795 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5796 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5797 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5798 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5802 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5803 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5804 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5805 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5806 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5809 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5810 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5811 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5812 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5813 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5814 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5818 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5819 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5820 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5822 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5823 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5824 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5828 @subsection Setting Marks
5829 @cindex setting marks
5831 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5836 @kindex M c (Summary)
5837 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5838 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5839 @cindex mark as unread
5840 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5841 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5847 @kindex M t (Summary)
5848 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5849 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5850 @xref{Article Caching}.
5855 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5856 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5857 Mark the current article as dormant
5858 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5862 @kindex M d (Summary)
5864 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5865 Mark the current article as read
5866 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5870 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5871 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5872 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5877 @kindex M k (Summary)
5878 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5879 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5880 and then select the next unread article
5881 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5885 @kindex M K (Summary)
5886 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5887 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5888 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5889 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5892 @kindex M C (Summary)
5893 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5894 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5895 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5898 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5899 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5900 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5901 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5904 @kindex M H (Summary)
5905 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5906 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5907 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5910 @kindex M h (Summary)
5911 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5912 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5913 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5916 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5917 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5918 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5919 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5922 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5923 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5924 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5925 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5929 @kindex M e (Summary)
5931 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5932 Mark the current article as expirable
5933 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5936 @kindex M b (Summary)
5937 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5938 Set a bookmark in the current article
5939 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5942 @kindex M B (Summary)
5943 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5944 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5945 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5948 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5949 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5950 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5951 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5954 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5955 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5956 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5957 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5960 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5961 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5962 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5963 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5964 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5967 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5968 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5969 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5970 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5971 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5972 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5973 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5974 The default is @code{t}.
5977 @node Generic Marking Commands
5978 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5980 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5981 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5982 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5983 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5984 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5987 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5988 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5991 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5992 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5993 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5994 to list in this manual.
5996 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5997 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5998 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5999 article, you could say something like:
6002 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
6003 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6004 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
6010 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6011 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
6015 @node Setting Process Marks
6016 @subsection Setting Process Marks
6017 @cindex setting process marks
6019 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
6020 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
6021 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
6022 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
6023 commands into the cache. For more information,
6024 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6031 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6032 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6033 Mark the current article with the process mark
6034 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6035 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6039 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6040 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6041 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6042 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6045 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6046 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6047 Remove the process mark from all articles
6048 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6051 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6052 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6053 Invert the list of process marked articles
6054 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6057 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6058 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6059 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6060 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6063 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6064 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6065 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6066 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6069 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6070 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6071 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6075 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6076 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6079 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6080 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6081 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6082 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6085 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6086 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6087 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6088 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6091 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6092 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6093 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6094 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6097 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6098 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6099 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6102 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6103 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6104 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6105 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6108 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6109 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6110 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6113 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6114 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6115 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6116 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6119 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6120 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6121 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6122 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6125 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6126 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6127 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6128 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6131 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6132 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6133 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6134 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6138 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
6139 set process marks based on article body contents.
6146 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6147 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6148 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6151 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6152 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6153 additional articles.
6159 @kindex / / (Summary)
6160 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6161 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6162 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6166 @kindex / a (Summary)
6167 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6168 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6169 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6173 @kindex / x (Summary)
6174 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6175 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6176 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6177 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6182 @kindex / u (Summary)
6184 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6185 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6186 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6187 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6188 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6191 @kindex / m (Summary)
6192 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6193 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6194 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6197 @kindex / t (Summary)
6198 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6199 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6200 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6201 articles younger than that number of days.
6204 @kindex / n (Summary)
6205 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6206 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6207 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6208 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6211 @kindex / w (Summary)
6212 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6213 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6214 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6218 @kindex / . (Summary)
6219 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6220 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6221 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6224 @kindex / v (Summary)
6225 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6226 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6227 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6230 @kindex / p (Summary)
6231 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6232 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6233 group parameter predicate
6234 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). See @pxref{Group
6235 Parameters} for more on this predicate.
6239 @kindex M S (Summary)
6240 @kindex / E (Summary)
6241 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6242 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6243 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6246 @kindex / D (Summary)
6247 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6248 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6249 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6252 @kindex / * (Summary)
6253 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6254 Include all cached articles in the limit
6255 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6258 @kindex / d (Summary)
6259 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6260 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6261 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6264 @kindex / M (Summary)
6265 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6266 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6269 @kindex / T (Summary)
6270 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6271 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6274 @kindex / c (Summary)
6275 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6276 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
6277 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6280 @kindex / C (Summary)
6281 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6282 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6283 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6284 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6287 @kindex / N (Summary)
6288 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6289 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6290 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6293 @kindex / o (Summary)
6294 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6295 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6296 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6304 @cindex article threading
6306 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6307 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6308 hierarchical fashion.
6310 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6311 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6312 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6313 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6314 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6315 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6316 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
6318 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6322 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6325 A tree-like article structure.
6328 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6331 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6332 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6333 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6334 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6335 called loose threads.
6337 @item thread gathering
6338 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6340 @item sparse threads
6341 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6342 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6348 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6349 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6353 @node Customizing Threading
6354 @subsection Customizing Threading
6355 @cindex customizing threading
6358 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6359 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6360 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6361 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
6366 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6369 @cindex loose threads
6372 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6373 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6374 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6375 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6376 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6377 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6379 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
6380 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
6381 There are four possible values:
6385 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6386 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6387 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6388 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6389 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6394 @cindex adopting articles
6399 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6400 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6401 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6402 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6405 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6406 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6407 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6408 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6409 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6410 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6411 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6412 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6413 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6414 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6417 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6418 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6419 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6423 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6424 display them after one another.
6427 Don't gather loose threads.
6430 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6431 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6432 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6433 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
6434 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6435 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6436 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6437 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6438 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6439 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
6440 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6442 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6443 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
6444 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6447 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6448 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6449 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6450 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6451 simplification is used.
6453 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6454 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6455 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6456 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6458 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6460 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6466 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6467 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6468 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6469 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6474 (mapconcat 'identity
6475 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6477 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6480 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6483 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6484 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6485 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6486 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6487 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6488 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6490 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6493 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6494 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6495 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6497 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6498 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6501 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6502 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6503 Remove excessive whitespace.
6505 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6506 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6507 Remove all whitespace.
6510 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6513 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6514 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6515 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6516 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6517 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6518 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6519 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6520 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6522 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6523 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6524 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6525 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6526 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6527 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6528 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6529 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6530 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6534 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6535 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6536 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6537 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6539 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6540 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6541 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6544 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6548 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6549 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6555 @node Filling In Threads
6556 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6559 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6560 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6561 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6562 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6563 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6564 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6565 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6566 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6567 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6568 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6569 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6570 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do
6573 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6574 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6575 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6577 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6578 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6579 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6580 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6581 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6582 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6583 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
6584 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6585 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
6586 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
6587 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6588 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
6589 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6590 @code{nil} by default.
6592 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6593 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6594 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6595 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6596 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6597 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6598 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6600 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6601 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6602 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6607 @node More Threading
6608 @subsubsection More Threading
6611 @item gnus-show-threads
6612 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6613 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6614 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6615 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6616 slower and more awkward.
6618 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6619 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6620 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6623 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6624 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6625 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}).
6630 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6631 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6632 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6635 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6636 unread, but you get my drift.)
6639 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6640 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6641 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6642 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6643 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6644 threads are expunged.
6646 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6647 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6648 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6651 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6652 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6653 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6654 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6655 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6656 result in a new thread.
6658 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6659 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6660 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6663 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6664 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6665 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6666 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6667 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6668 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6669 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6670 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6671 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6672 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6673 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6678 @node Low-Level Threading
6679 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6683 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6684 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6685 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
6686 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
6687 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
6688 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
6690 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6691 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6692 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6693 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6694 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6695 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6696 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6697 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6698 meaningful. Here's one example:
6701 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6703 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6704 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6706 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6708 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6715 @node Thread Commands
6716 @subsection Thread Commands
6717 @cindex thread commands
6723 @kindex T k (Summary)
6724 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6725 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6726 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6727 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6728 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6733 @kindex T l (Summary)
6734 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6735 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6736 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6737 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6740 @kindex T i (Summary)
6741 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6742 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6743 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6746 @kindex T # (Summary)
6747 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6748 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6749 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6752 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6753 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6754 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6755 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6758 @kindex T T (Summary)
6759 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6760 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6763 @kindex T s (Summary)
6764 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6765 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
6766 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6769 @kindex T h (Summary)
6770 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6771 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6774 @kindex T S (Summary)
6775 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6776 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6779 @kindex T H (Summary)
6780 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6781 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6784 @kindex T t (Summary)
6785 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6786 Re-thread the current article's thread
6787 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6788 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6791 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6792 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6793 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6794 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6798 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6799 understand the numeric prefix.
6804 @kindex T n (Summary)
6806 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6808 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6809 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6810 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6813 @kindex T p (Summary)
6815 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6817 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6818 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6819 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6822 @kindex T d (Summary)
6823 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6824 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6827 @kindex T u (Summary)
6828 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6829 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6832 @kindex T o (Summary)
6833 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6834 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6837 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6838 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6839 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6840 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6841 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6842 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6843 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6844 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6845 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6846 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6847 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6848 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6852 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6853 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6855 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6856 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6857 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6858 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6859 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6860 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6861 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6862 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6863 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-thread
6864 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6865 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6866 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6867 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6869 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6870 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6871 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6872 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6873 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6874 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
6875 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
6876 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6878 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6879 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6880 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6882 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6883 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6884 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6885 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6886 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6887 ascending article order.
6889 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6890 by number, you could do something like:
6893 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6894 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6895 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6896 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6899 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6900 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6901 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6902 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6903 which the articles arrived.
6905 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6909 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6911 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6912 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6915 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6916 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6917 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6918 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6921 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6922 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6923 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6924 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6925 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6926 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
6927 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6928 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
6929 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
6930 variable. It is very similar to the
6931 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
6932 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
6933 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6934 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
6935 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
6936 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
6937 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6939 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6943 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6944 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6945 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6950 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6951 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6952 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6953 @cindex article pre-fetch
6956 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6957 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6958 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6959 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6960 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6962 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6963 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
6965 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6966 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6967 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6968 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6969 connection is blocked.
6971 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6972 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6973 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6974 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
6976 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6977 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6978 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6979 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6982 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
6985 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6986 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6987 happen automatically.
6989 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6990 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6991 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6992 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
6993 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
6994 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6995 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6997 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6998 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6999 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
7000 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
7001 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
7002 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
7003 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which
7004 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
7005 article data structure as the only parameter.
7007 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
7008 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
7011 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
7012 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
7013 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
7014 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
7017 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
7020 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
7021 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
7022 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
7024 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
7025 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
7026 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
7027 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7031 Remove articles when they are read.
7034 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7037 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7039 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7040 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7041 @c from the next group.
7044 @node Article Caching
7045 @section Article Caching
7046 @cindex article caching
7049 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
7050 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7051 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7052 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7053 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7055 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7057 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7058 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7059 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7060 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7061 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7062 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7063 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7064 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7066 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7067 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7068 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7069 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7070 as dormant, and don't worry.
7072 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7074 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7075 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7076 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7077 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7078 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7079 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7080 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7081 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7082 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7083 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7085 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7086 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7087 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7088 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7089 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7090 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
7091 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7092 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7093 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7094 not then be downloaded by this command.
7096 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7097 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7098 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7099 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7100 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7101 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7103 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7104 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7105 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7106 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7107 variables, the group is not cached.
7109 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7110 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7111 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7112 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7113 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7114 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
7115 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7116 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
7117 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7120 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7121 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7122 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7123 where, isn't that cool?
7125 @node Persistent Articles
7126 @section Persistent Articles
7127 @cindex persistent articles
7129 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7130 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7131 useful in my opinion.
7133 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7134 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7135 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7136 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7137 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7138 the expiry going on at the news server.
7140 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7141 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7142 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7148 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7149 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7152 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7153 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7154 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7155 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7159 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7161 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7162 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7163 interested in persistent articles:
7166 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7170 @node Article Backlog
7171 @section Article Backlog
7173 @cindex article backlog
7175 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7176 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7177 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
7178 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7179 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7180 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7181 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
7182 increase memory usage some.
7184 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7185 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
7186 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7187 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
7188 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7189 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7190 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7192 The default value is 20.
7195 @node Saving Articles
7196 @section Saving Articles
7197 @cindex saving articles
7199 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7200 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7201 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7202 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7203 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7205 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7206 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7207 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7209 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7210 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
7211 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7213 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7214 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7215 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7216 deleted before saving.
7222 @kindex O o (Summary)
7224 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7225 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7226 Save the current article using the default article saver
7227 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7230 @kindex O m (Summary)
7231 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7232 Save the current article in mail format
7233 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7236 @kindex O r (Summary)
7237 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7238 Save the current article in rmail format
7239 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7242 @kindex O f (Summary)
7243 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7244 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7245 Save the current article in plain file format
7246 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7249 @kindex O F (Summary)
7250 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7251 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7252 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7255 @kindex O b (Summary)
7256 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7257 Save the current article body in plain file format
7258 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7261 @kindex O h (Summary)
7262 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7263 Save the current article in mh folder format
7264 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7267 @kindex O v (Summary)
7268 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7269 Save the current article in a VM folder
7270 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7274 @kindex O p (Summary)
7276 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7277 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7278 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7279 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7280 complete headers in the piped output.
7283 @kindex O P (Summary)
7284 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7285 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7286 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7287 external program Muttprint (see
7288 @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/}). The program name and
7289 options to use is controlled by the variable
7290 @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}. (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7294 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7295 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7296 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7297 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7298 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7299 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7300 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7301 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7302 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7303 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7304 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7305 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7309 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7310 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7311 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7312 functions below, or you can create your own.
7316 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7317 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7318 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7319 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7320 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
7321 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7322 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7324 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7325 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7326 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7327 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7328 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7329 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7331 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7332 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7333 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7334 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7335 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7336 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7337 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7339 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7340 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7341 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7342 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7343 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7344 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7346 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7347 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7348 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7349 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7350 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7352 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7353 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7354 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7355 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7356 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7359 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7360 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7361 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7362 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7363 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7365 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7366 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7367 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7368 reader to use this setting.
7371 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7372 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7373 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7374 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7377 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7378 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7379 available functions that generate names:
7383 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7384 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7385 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7387 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7388 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7389 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7391 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7392 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7393 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7395 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7396 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7397 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7399 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7400 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7401 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7404 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7405 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7406 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7407 save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7408 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7412 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7413 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7414 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7415 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7418 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7419 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7420 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7421 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7422 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7423 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7424 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7425 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7426 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7428 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7429 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7430 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7431 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7433 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7434 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7435 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7438 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7439 lots of mail groups called things like
7440 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7441 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7442 following will do just that:
7445 (defun my-save-name (group)
7446 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7447 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7449 (setq gnus-split-methods
7450 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7455 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7456 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7457 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7458 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7459 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7460 all the files in the top level directory
7461 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7462 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7463 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7464 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7466 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7467 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7468 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7469 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7470 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7473 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7477 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
7478 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7479 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
7482 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7483 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7484 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7485 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7488 @node Decoding Articles
7489 @section Decoding Articles
7490 @cindex decoding articles
7492 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7493 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7496 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7497 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7498 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7499 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7500 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7501 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7505 @cindex article series
7506 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7507 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7508 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7509 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7510 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7512 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7513 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7514 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7516 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
7517 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7518 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7520 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7521 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7522 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7525 @node Uuencoded Articles
7526 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7528 @cindex uuencoded articles
7533 @kindex X u (Summary)
7534 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7535 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7536 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7539 @kindex X U (Summary)
7540 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7541 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7542 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7545 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7546 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7547 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7550 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7551 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7552 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7553 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7557 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7558 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7559 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7560 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7561 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7563 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7564 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7565 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7566 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7569 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7570 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7571 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7572 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7573 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7574 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7578 @node Shell Archives
7579 @subsection Shell Archives
7581 @cindex shell archives
7582 @cindex shared articles
7584 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7585 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7586 some commands to deal with these:
7591 @kindex X s (Summary)
7592 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7593 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7596 @kindex X S (Summary)
7597 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7598 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7601 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7602 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7603 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7606 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7607 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7608 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7609 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7613 @node PostScript Files
7614 @subsection PostScript Files
7620 @kindex X p (Summary)
7621 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7622 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7625 @kindex X P (Summary)
7626 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7627 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7628 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7631 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7632 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7633 View the current PostScript series
7634 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7637 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7638 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7639 View and save the current PostScript series
7640 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7645 @subsection Other Files
7649 @kindex X o (Summary)
7650 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7651 Save the current series
7652 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7655 @kindex X b (Summary)
7656 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7657 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7658 doesn't really work yet.
7662 @node Decoding Variables
7663 @subsection Decoding Variables
7665 Adjective, not verb.
7668 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7669 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7670 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7674 @node Rule Variables
7675 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7676 @cindex rule variables
7678 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7679 variables are of the form
7682 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7689 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7690 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7692 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7693 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
7696 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7697 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7700 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7701 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7702 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7703 user and default view rules.
7705 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7706 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7707 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7712 @node Other Decode Variables
7713 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7716 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7718 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7719 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7720 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7721 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7722 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7726 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7727 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7730 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7731 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7732 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7735 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7736 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7737 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7738 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7739 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7742 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7743 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7744 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7746 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7747 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7748 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7749 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7750 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
7753 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7754 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7755 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7757 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7758 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7759 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7760 looking for files to display.
7762 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7763 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7764 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7767 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7768 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7769 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7772 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7773 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7774 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7777 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7778 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7779 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7782 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7783 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7784 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7785 decoded articles as unread.
7787 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7788 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7789 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7790 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7792 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7793 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7794 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7796 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7797 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7799 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7800 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
7801 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7802 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7804 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7805 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7806 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7807 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7808 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7809 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7810 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7811 simply dropped them.
7816 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7817 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7821 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7822 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7823 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7824 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7825 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7826 for you when you post the article.
7828 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7829 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7830 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7831 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7833 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7834 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7835 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7836 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7837 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7838 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7839 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
7841 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7842 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7843 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7844 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7845 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7846 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7847 Default is @code{t}.
7853 @subsection Viewing Files
7854 @cindex viewing files
7855 @cindex pseudo-articles
7857 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
7858 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7859 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7860 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
7861 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7862 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7863 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7865 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7866 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7867 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7868 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7870 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7871 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7872 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7874 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7875 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7876 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7877 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7878 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7880 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7881 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7882 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7883 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7884 a list of parameters to that command.
7886 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7887 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7888 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7890 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7891 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7892 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7895 @node Article Treatment
7896 @section Article Treatment
7898 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7899 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7900 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7901 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7902 these articles easier.
7905 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7906 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7907 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7908 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7909 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
7910 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7911 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7912 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
7913 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7914 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7918 @node Article Highlighting
7919 @subsection Article Highlighting
7920 @cindex highlighting
7922 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7923 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7928 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7929 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7930 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7931 Do much highlighting of the current article
7932 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7933 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7936 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7937 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7938 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7939 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7940 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7941 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7942 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7943 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7944 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7945 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7946 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7947 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7950 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7951 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7952 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7954 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7957 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7959 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7960 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7961 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7963 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7964 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7965 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7967 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7968 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7969 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7970 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7971 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7972 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7974 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7975 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7976 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7978 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7979 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7980 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7982 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7983 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7984 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7985 that it's a citation.
7987 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7988 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7989 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7991 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7992 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7993 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7995 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7996 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7997 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7998 cited text belonging to the attribution.
8004 @kindex W H s (Summary)
8005 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8006 @vindex gnus-signature-face
8007 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
8008 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
8009 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
8010 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
8011 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
8016 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
8019 @node Article Fontisizing
8020 @subsection Article Fontisizing
8022 @cindex article emphasis
8024 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
8025 @kindex W e (Summary)
8026 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8027 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8028 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8029 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8031 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8032 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8033 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8034 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8035 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8036 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8037 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8038 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8042 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8043 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8044 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8053 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8054 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8055 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8056 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8057 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8058 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8059 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8060 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8061 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8062 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8063 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8064 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8065 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8067 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8068 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8069 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8073 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8076 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8078 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8079 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8080 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8081 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8083 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8086 @node Article Hiding
8087 @subsection Article Hiding
8088 @cindex article hiding
8090 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8091 too much cruft in most articles.
8096 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8097 @findex gnus-article-hide
8098 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8099 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8100 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
8103 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8104 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8105 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8109 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8110 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8111 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8112 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8115 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8116 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8117 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8121 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8122 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8123 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8124 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8125 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8126 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8127 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8128 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8132 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8133 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8134 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8135 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8140 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8141 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8142 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8143 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8146 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8147 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8148 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8149 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8152 @cindex stripping advertisements
8153 @cindex advertisements
8154 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8155 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8156 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8157 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8158 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8159 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8160 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8161 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8162 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8163 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8166 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8167 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8168 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8172 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8173 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8174 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8175 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
8176 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
8177 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
8178 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
8179 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
8180 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
8181 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
8182 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
8185 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" . "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8191 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8192 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8193 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8194 customizing the hiding:
8198 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8199 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8200 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8201 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8202 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8203 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8204 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8209 Starting point of the hidden text.
8211 Ending point of the hidden text.
8213 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8215 Number of lines of hidden text.
8218 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8219 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8220 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8221 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8222 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8227 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8228 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8230 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8231 following two variables:
8234 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8235 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8236 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8237 50), hide the cited text.
8239 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8240 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8241 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8246 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8247 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8248 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8249 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8250 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8251 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8255 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8256 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8257 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8259 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8260 citation customization.
8262 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8266 @node Article Washing
8267 @subsection Article Washing
8269 @cindex article washing
8271 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8272 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8274 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8275 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8278 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8279 articles by default.
8284 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8285 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8289 Force redisplaying of the current article
8290 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
8291 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
8292 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
8293 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8296 @kindex W l (Summary)
8297 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8298 Remove page breaks from the current article
8299 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8303 @kindex W r (Summary)
8304 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8305 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8306 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8307 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8308 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8309 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8311 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8312 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8313 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8314 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8317 @kindex W m (Summary)
8318 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8319 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8323 @kindex W t (Summary)
8325 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8326 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8327 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8330 @kindex W v (Summary)
8331 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8332 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8333 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8336 @kindex W m (Summary)
8337 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
8338 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
8339 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
8342 @kindex W o (Summary)
8343 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8344 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8347 @kindex W d (Summary)
8348 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8349 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8351 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8353 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8354 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8355 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8356 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8359 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8360 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8361 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8362 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8365 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8366 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8367 @cindex Outlook Express
8368 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8369 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8370 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8373 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8374 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8375 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
8376 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
8377 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8378 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8379 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8380 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the miminum and
8381 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8382 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
8385 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
8386 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
8387 Repair a broken attribution line.
8388 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
8391 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
8392 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
8393 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
8394 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
8397 @kindex W w (Summary)
8398 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8399 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8401 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8405 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8406 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8407 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8410 @kindex W C (Summary)
8411 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8412 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8413 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8416 @kindex W c (Summary)
8417 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8418 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8419 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8420 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8421 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8424 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8425 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8426 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
8427 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
8428 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is usually done
8429 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8430 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
8432 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8435 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8436 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8437 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8438 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8439 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8442 @kindex W u (Summary)
8443 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8444 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8445 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8446 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8447 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8450 @kindex W h (Summary)
8451 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8452 Treat @sc{html} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8453 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8454 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @sc{html}.
8456 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8458 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8459 The default is to use the function specified by
8460 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
8461 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
8462 @sc{html}, but this is controlled by the
8463 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
8471 Use emacs-w3m (see @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/} for more
8475 Use Links (see @uref{http://artax.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~mikulas/links/}).
8478 Use Lynx (see @uref{http://lynx.browser.org/}).
8481 Use html2text -- a simple @sc{html} converter included with Gnus.
8486 @kindex W b (Summary)
8487 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8488 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8489 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8492 @kindex W B (Summary)
8493 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8494 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8495 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8498 @kindex W p (Summary)
8499 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8500 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
8501 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
8502 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
8503 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8504 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
8505 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8508 @kindex W s (Summary)
8509 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8510 Verify a signed (PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}) message
8511 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8514 @kindex W a (Summary)
8515 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8516 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8517 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8520 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8521 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8522 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8523 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8526 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8527 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8528 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8529 lines with a single empty line.
8530 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8533 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8534 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8535 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8536 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8539 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8540 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8541 Do all the three commands above
8542 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8545 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8546 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8547 Remove all blank lines
8548 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8551 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8552 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8553 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8554 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8557 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8558 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8559 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8560 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8564 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8567 @node Article Header
8568 @subsection Article Header
8570 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8575 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8576 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8577 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8580 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8581 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8582 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8583 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8586 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8587 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8588 Fold all the message headers
8589 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8593 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8594 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8595 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8600 @node Article Buttons
8601 @subsection Article Buttons
8604 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8605 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8606 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8607 button on these references.
8609 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8610 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8611 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links and man pages.
8612 This is controlled by two variables, one that handles article bodies and
8613 one that handles article heads:
8617 @item gnus-button-alist
8618 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8619 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8622 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8628 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
8629 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
8630 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
8631 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
8632 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}.
8635 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8636 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8637 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8640 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8641 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8642 avoid false matches.
8645 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8648 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8649 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8653 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8656 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8659 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8660 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8661 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8662 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8663 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8666 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8669 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8671 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8672 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8673 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8674 default values of the variables above.
8676 @item gnus-article-button-face
8677 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8678 Face used on buttons.
8680 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8681 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8682 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8686 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8690 @subsection Article Date
8692 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8693 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8694 when the article was sent.
8699 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8700 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8701 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8702 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8705 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8706 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8708 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8709 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8712 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8713 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8714 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8717 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8718 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8719 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8720 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8723 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8724 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8725 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8726 @findex format-time-string
8727 Display the date using a user-defined format
8728 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8729 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8730 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8731 for a list of possible format specs.
8734 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8735 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8736 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8737 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8738 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8739 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8742 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8745 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
8746 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8747 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8750 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8751 into wonderful absurdities.
8753 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8756 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8759 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8760 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8764 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8765 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8766 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8767 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8768 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8769 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8770 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8774 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8775 preferred format automatically.
8778 @node Article Display
8779 @subsection Article Display
8784 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
8785 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
8787 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
8788 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
8790 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
8791 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
8793 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
8794 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
8796 All these functions are toggles--if the elements already exist,
8801 @kindex W D x (Summary)
8802 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
8803 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
8804 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
8807 @kindex W D d (Summary)
8808 @findex gnus-article-display-face
8809 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
8810 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
8813 @kindex W D s (Summary)
8814 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
8815 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
8818 @kindex W D f (Summary)
8819 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
8820 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
8823 @kindex W D m (Summary)
8824 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
8825 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
8826 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
8829 @kindex W D n (Summary)
8830 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
8831 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
8832 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
8835 @kindex W D D (Summary)
8836 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
8837 Remove all images from the article buffer
8838 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
8844 @node Article Signature
8845 @subsection Article Signature
8847 @cindex article signature
8849 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8850 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
8851 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
8852 that says what is to be considered a signature is
8853 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
8854 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
8855 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
8856 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
8857 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
8860 (setq gnus-signature-separator
8861 '("^-- $" ; The standard
8862 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
8863 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
8864 ; line of dashes. Shame!
8865 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
8866 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
8867 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
8870 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
8873 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
8874 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
8875 signature when displaying articles.
8879 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
8882 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
8885 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
8886 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
8888 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
8889 in question is not a signature.
8892 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
8893 listed above. Here's an example:
8896 (setq gnus-signature-limit
8897 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
8900 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
8901 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
8902 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
8903 signature after all.
8906 @node Article Miscellania
8907 @subsection Article Miscellania
8911 @kindex A t (Summary)
8912 @findex gnus-article-babel
8913 Translate the article from one language to another
8914 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
8920 @section MIME Commands
8921 @cindex MIME decoding
8923 @cindex viewing attachments
8925 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
8926 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
8932 @kindex K v (Summary)
8933 View the @sc{mime} part.
8936 @kindex K o (Summary)
8937 Save the @sc{mime} part.
8940 @kindex K c (Summary)
8941 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
8944 @kindex K e (Summary)
8945 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
8948 @kindex K i (Summary)
8949 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
8952 @kindex K | (Summary)
8953 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
8956 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
8961 @kindex K b (Summary)
8962 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
8963 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
8967 @kindex K m (Summary)
8968 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
8969 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
8970 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
8971 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
8972 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
8975 @kindex X m (Summary)
8976 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
8977 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
8978 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
8979 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8982 @kindex M-t (Summary)
8983 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
8984 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
8985 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
8988 @kindex W M w (Summary)
8989 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
8990 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
8991 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
8994 @kindex W M c (Summary)
8995 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
8996 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
8997 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
8999 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
9000 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
9001 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
9002 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
9003 include @sc{mime} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
9004 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9007 @kindex W M v (Summary)
9008 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
9009 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
9010 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
9017 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
9018 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9019 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9020 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9023 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9026 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9030 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9031 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9032 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't required the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9033 before interpreting the message as a @sc{mime} message. This helps
9034 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9035 default is @code{nil}.
9037 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9038 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9039 There are other, non-@sc{mime} encoding methods used. The most common
9040 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9041 This variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9042 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9043 Gnus @sc{mime} machinery. The default is @code{t}.
9045 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9046 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9047 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9048 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9049 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9050 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9051 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9052 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is nil.
9054 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9055 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9056 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9057 this list will have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9058 displayed. This variable overrides
9059 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9060 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9063 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9064 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9065 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9067 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9068 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9069 If this is non-nil, then all @sc{mime} parts get buttons. The default
9070 value is @code{nil}.
9072 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9073 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9074 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
9075 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9076 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9077 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9078 save all jpegs into some directory).
9080 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9083 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9084 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9086 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9087 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9088 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9089 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9090 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9093 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9094 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9095 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9097 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9098 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9099 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
9100 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9102 Ready-made functions include@*
9103 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9104 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9105 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9106 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9107 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9108 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9109 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9110 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9111 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9112 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9113 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9114 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9116 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9117 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9119 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9120 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9121 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9124 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9125 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9126 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9127 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9131 to your @file{.gnus.el} file.
9140 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
9141 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9142 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
9143 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9144 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9145 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9146 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
9148 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9149 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9150 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9151 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9153 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
9154 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
9155 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9156 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9157 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9158 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9159 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9160 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9161 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9163 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9164 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9165 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
9166 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9167 quoted-printable header encoding.
9169 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9170 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9171 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9175 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9178 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9179 means encode all charsets),
9181 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9182 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9183 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9190 @cindex coding system aliases
9191 @cindex preferred charset
9193 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9195 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9196 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9199 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9200 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9203 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9204 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
9206 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9209 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9212 This will almost do the right thing.
9214 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9218 (codepage-setup 1251)
9219 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9223 @node Article Commands
9224 @section Article Commands
9231 @kindex A P (Summary)
9232 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9233 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9234 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9235 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9236 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9237 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9242 @node Summary Sorting
9243 @section Summary Sorting
9244 @cindex summary sorting
9246 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9247 can't really see why you'd want that.
9252 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9253 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9254 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9257 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9258 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9259 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9262 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9263 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9264 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9267 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9268 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9269 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9272 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9273 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9274 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9277 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9278 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9279 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9282 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9283 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9284 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9287 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9288 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9289 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9292 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9293 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9294 Sort using the default sorting method
9295 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9298 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9299 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9300 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9301 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9302 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9306 @node Finding the Parent
9307 @section Finding the Parent
9308 @cindex parent articles
9309 @cindex referring articles
9314 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9315 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9316 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9317 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
9318 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9319 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9320 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9321 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9322 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9324 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9325 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9326 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
9327 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9328 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9332 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9333 @kindex A R (Summary)
9334 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9335 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9338 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9339 @kindex A T (Summary)
9340 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9341 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9342 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9343 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9344 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9345 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9346 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9348 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9349 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9350 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9351 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9352 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9353 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9356 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9357 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9359 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9360 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
9361 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9362 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9363 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9364 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9365 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9368 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9369 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9370 by giving this command a prefix.
9372 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9373 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9374 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9375 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
9376 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
9377 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9380 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9381 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9382 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9385 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9386 then ask Google if that fails:
9389 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9391 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9394 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9395 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9396 @code{nnbabyl}, and @code{nnmaildir} are able to locate articles from
9397 any groups, while @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9398 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current group.
9399 (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not
9400 support this at all.
9403 @node Alternative Approaches
9404 @section Alternative Approaches
9406 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9407 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9410 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9411 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9416 @subsection Pick and Read
9417 @cindex pick and read
9419 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9420 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9421 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9422 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9424 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9425 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9426 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9427 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9428 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9429 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9431 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9436 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9437 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9438 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9439 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9440 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9441 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9442 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9443 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9446 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9447 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9448 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9449 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9453 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9454 Unpick the thread or article
9455 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9456 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9457 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9458 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9459 the thread or article at that line.
9463 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9464 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9465 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9466 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9467 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9468 will still be visible when you are reading.
9472 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9473 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9474 which is mapped to the same function
9475 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9477 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9480 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9483 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9484 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9486 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9487 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9488 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9490 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9491 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9492 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9493 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9494 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9495 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9496 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9500 @subsection Binary Groups
9501 @cindex binary groups
9503 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9504 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9505 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9506 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9507 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9508 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9509 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9512 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9513 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9514 command, when you have turned on this mode
9515 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9517 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9518 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9522 @section Tree Display
9525 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9526 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
9527 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9528 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9531 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9534 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9535 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9536 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9538 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9539 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9540 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9541 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9542 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9544 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9545 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9546 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9547 default is @code{modeline}.
9549 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9550 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9551 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9552 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9553 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9554 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9555 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9561 The name of the poster.
9563 The @code{From} header.
9565 The number of the article.
9567 The opening bracket.
9569 The closing bracket.
9574 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9576 Variables related to the display are:
9579 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9580 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9581 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9582 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9583 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
9584 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9586 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9587 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9588 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9589 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9593 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9594 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9595 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
9596 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
9597 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9598 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9599 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9600 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9601 other windows displayed next to it.
9603 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9607 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9608 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9611 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9612 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9613 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9614 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9615 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9616 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9617 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9621 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9624 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9634 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9638 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9639 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9641 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9643 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9648 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9649 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9650 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
9653 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9654 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9655 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9656 (gnus-add-configuration
9660 (summary 0.75 point)
9665 @xref{Window Layout}.
9668 @node Mail Group Commands
9669 @section Mail Group Commands
9670 @cindex mail group commands
9672 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9673 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9675 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9676 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9681 @kindex B e (Summary)
9682 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9683 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9684 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9685 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9686 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9689 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9690 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9691 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9692 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9693 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9694 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9697 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9698 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9699 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9700 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9701 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9702 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9705 @kindex B m (Summary)
9707 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9708 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9709 Move the article from one mail group to another
9710 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9711 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9714 @kindex B c (Summary)
9716 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9717 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9718 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9719 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9720 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9723 @kindex B B (Summary)
9724 @cindex crosspost mail
9725 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9726 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9727 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9728 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9729 be properly updated.
9732 @kindex B i (Summary)
9733 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9734 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9735 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9736 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9739 @kindex B I (Summary)
9740 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
9741 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
9742 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
9743 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9746 @kindex B r (Summary)
9747 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9748 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
9749 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9750 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9751 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9752 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9753 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9754 (which is the default).
9758 @kindex B w (Summary)
9760 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9761 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9762 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
9763 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9764 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9765 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9766 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9769 @kindex B q (Summary)
9770 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9771 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9772 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9773 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
9776 @kindex B t (Summary)
9777 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
9778 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
9779 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
9782 @kindex B p (Summary)
9783 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
9784 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
9785 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
9786 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
9787 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
9788 article from your news server (or rather, from
9789 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
9790 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
9791 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
9792 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
9793 just not have arrived yet.
9796 @kindex K E (Summary)
9797 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
9798 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
9799 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
9800 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
9801 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
9805 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
9806 @cindex moving articles
9807 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
9808 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
9809 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
9810 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
9811 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
9812 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
9813 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
9816 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
9817 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
9818 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
9819 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
9823 @node Various Summary Stuff
9824 @section Various Summary Stuff
9827 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
9828 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
9829 * Summary Generation Commands::
9830 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
9834 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
9835 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
9836 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
9837 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
9838 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
9839 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
9841 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
9842 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
9843 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
9845 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
9846 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
9847 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
9848 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
9849 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
9850 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
9853 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9854 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9855 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
9856 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
9857 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
9859 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9860 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9861 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
9864 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9865 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9866 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
9867 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
9868 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
9869 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
9870 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
9871 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
9872 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
9873 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
9875 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9876 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9877 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
9878 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
9879 list of articles to be selected.
9881 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
9882 the list in one particular group:
9885 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
9886 (if (string= group "some.group")
9887 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
9891 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
9892 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
9893 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
9894 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
9895 nil), that should be made global while the summary buffer is active.
9896 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
9897 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
9898 buffers. For example:
9901 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
9902 '(message-use-followup-to
9903 (gnus-visible-headers .
9904 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
9910 @node Summary Group Information
9911 @subsection Summary Group Information
9916 @kindex H f (Summary)
9917 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
9918 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
9919 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
9920 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
9921 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
9922 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
9923 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
9924 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
9925 be used for fetching the file.
9928 @kindex H d (Summary)
9929 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
9930 Give a brief description of the current group
9931 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
9932 rereading the description from the server.
9935 @kindex H h (Summary)
9936 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
9937 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
9938 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
9941 @kindex H i (Summary)
9942 @findex gnus-info-find-node
9943 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
9947 @node Searching for Articles
9948 @subsection Searching for Articles
9953 @kindex M-s (Summary)
9954 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
9955 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
9956 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
9959 @kindex M-r (Summary)
9960 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
9961 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
9962 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
9966 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
9967 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
9968 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
9969 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
9970 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
9971 search backward instead.
9973 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
9974 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
9977 @kindex M-& (Summary)
9978 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
9979 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
9980 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
9983 @node Summary Generation Commands
9984 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
9989 @kindex Y g (Summary)
9990 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
9991 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
9994 @kindex Y c (Summary)
9995 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
9996 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
9997 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
10000 @kindex Y d (Summary)
10001 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
10002 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10003 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
10008 @node Really Various Summary Commands
10009 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
10015 @kindex C-d (Summary)
10016 @kindex A D (Summary)
10017 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
10018 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
10019 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
10020 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
10021 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
10022 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
10023 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
10024 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10028 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
10029 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
10030 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
10031 several documents into one biiig group
10032 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
10033 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
10034 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
10035 command understands the process/prefix convention
10036 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10039 @kindex C-t (Summary)
10040 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
10041 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10042 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10043 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10044 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10047 @kindex = (Summary)
10048 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10049 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10050 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10053 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10054 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10055 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10056 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10059 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10060 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10061 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10062 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
10067 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
10068 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
10069 @cindex summary exit
10070 @cindex exiting groups
10072 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
10073 group and return you to the group buffer.
10079 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
10080 @kindex q (Summary)
10081 @findex gnus-summary-exit
10082 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
10083 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
10084 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
10085 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
10086 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
10087 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
10088 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
10089 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
10090 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
10091 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
10092 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
10096 @kindex Z E (Summary)
10097 @kindex Q (Summary)
10098 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
10099 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
10100 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
10104 @kindex Z c (Summary)
10105 @kindex c (Summary)
10106 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
10107 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
10108 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
10109 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
10112 @kindex Z C (Summary)
10113 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
10114 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
10115 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
10118 @kindex Z n (Summary)
10119 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
10120 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
10121 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
10124 @kindex Z R (Summary)
10125 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
10126 Exit this group, and then enter it again
10127 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
10128 all articles, both read and unread.
10132 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10133 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10134 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10135 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10136 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10137 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10138 articles, both read and unread.
10141 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10142 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10143 Exit the group and go to the next group
10144 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10147 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10148 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10149 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10150 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10153 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10154 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10155 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10156 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10157 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10158 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10161 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10162 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10163 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10164 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10166 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10167 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10168 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10169 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10170 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10171 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10172 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10173 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10174 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10175 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10176 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10177 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10179 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10181 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10182 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10183 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10184 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10185 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10186 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10187 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10188 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10189 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10192 @node Crosspost Handling
10193 @section Crosspost Handling
10197 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10198 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10199 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10200 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10201 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10202 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10205 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10206 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10207 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10208 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10209 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10211 @cindex cross-posting
10214 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10215 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
10216 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10217 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
10218 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10219 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10220 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10221 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10222 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10223 the cross reference mechanism.
10225 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10226 @cindex overview.fmt
10227 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10228 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10229 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10230 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10231 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10232 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10235 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10236 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10237 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10242 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10245 @node Duplicate Suppression
10246 @section Duplicate Suppression
10248 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10249 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10250 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10251 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10256 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10257 is evil and not very common.
10260 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10261 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10264 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10265 different @sc{nntp} servers.
10268 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10271 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10272 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10274 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10275 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10276 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10277 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10278 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10279 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10280 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10283 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10284 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10285 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10286 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10287 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10288 saw the article in.
10291 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10292 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10293 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10295 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10296 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10297 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10298 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10299 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
10300 session are suppressed.
10302 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10303 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10304 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10305 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10307 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10308 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10309 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10310 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10313 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
10314 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10315 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10316 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10317 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
10318 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10319 to you to figure out, I think.
10324 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10325 The formats that are supported are PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} and @sc{s/mime},
10326 however you need some external programs to get things to work:
10330 To handle PGP and PGP/MIME messages, you have to install an OpenPGP
10331 implementation such as GnuPG. The lisp interface to GnuPG included
10332 with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG Manual}), but
10333 Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
10336 To handle @sc{s/mime} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10337 or newer is recommended.
10341 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10342 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10345 @item mm-verify-option
10346 @vindex mm-verify-option
10347 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10348 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10349 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10351 @item mm-decrypt-option
10352 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10353 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10354 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10355 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10358 @vindex mml1991-use
10359 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for PGP
10360 messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but @code{mailcrypt} and
10361 @code{gpg} are also supported although deprecated.
10364 @vindex mml2015-use
10365 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10366 PGP/MIME messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but @code{mailcrypt}
10367 and @code{gpg} are also supported although deprecated.
10372 @section Mailing List
10374 @kindex A M (summary)
10375 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10376 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10377 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10378 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10381 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10386 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10387 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10388 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10391 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10392 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10393 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10396 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10397 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10398 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10402 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10403 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10404 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10407 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10408 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10409 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10412 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10413 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10414 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10418 @node Article Buffer
10419 @chapter Article Buffer
10420 @cindex article buffer
10422 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10423 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10424 tell gnus otherwise.
10427 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10428 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
10429 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10430 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10431 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10435 @node Hiding Headers
10436 @section Hiding Headers
10437 @cindex hiding headers
10438 @cindex deleting headers
10440 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10441 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10443 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10444 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10445 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10446 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10447 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10448 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10449 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
10450 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10451 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10453 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10457 @item gnus-visible-headers
10458 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10459 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10460 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10461 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10463 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10464 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10467 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10470 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10473 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10474 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10475 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10476 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10477 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10478 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10480 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
10481 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
10484 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10487 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10490 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10491 variable will have no effect.
10495 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10496 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10497 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10498 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10499 the headers are to be displayed.
10501 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10502 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10505 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10508 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10509 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10511 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10512 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10513 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10514 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10515 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10516 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
10517 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10520 These conditions are:
10523 Remove all empty headers.
10525 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10526 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10528 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
10529 @code{From} header.
10531 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10534 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10535 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
10537 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10538 the current groups's @code{to-list} parameter.
10540 Remove the @code{CC} header if it only contains the address identical to
10541 the current groups's @code{to-list} parameter.
10543 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10546 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10548 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10551 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10554 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10555 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10558 This is also the default value for this variable.
10562 @section Using MIME
10565 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10566 while people stand around yawning.
10568 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10569 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10571 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10572 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10573 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10575 @vindex gnus-show-mime
10576 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
10577 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
10578 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
10579 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
10580 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
10581 calls the @sc{semi} MIME-View program to actually do the work. For more
10582 information on @sc{semi} MIME-View, see its manual page (however it is
10583 not existed yet, sorry).
10585 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
10586 @sc{mime} all the time. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime} set, then
10587 you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article buffer.
10588 These can't be avoided.
10590 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
10591 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
10592 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
10593 @sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
10594 sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find
10595 the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to
10596 look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
10597 can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
10598 room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
10601 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10603 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
10604 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
10605 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
10606 buffer when there are nobody else.
10608 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10611 @node Customizing Articles
10612 @section Customizing Articles
10613 @cindex article customization
10615 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10616 exist. You can call these functions interactively
10617 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
10618 called automatically when you select the articles.
10620 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10621 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10622 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10623 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10625 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10626 for sensible values.
10630 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10633 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10636 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10639 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10642 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10646 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10647 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10648 regexps in the list.
10651 A list where the first element is not a string:
10653 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10654 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10655 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10659 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10663 @code{mime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}' is
10668 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10669 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
10670 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10671 considered to contain just a single part.
10673 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10674 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10675 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10676 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
10677 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
10678 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
10679 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
10681 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
10682 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
10683 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
10684 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
10687 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
10688 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
10690 @xref{Article Buttons}.
10692 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
10693 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10694 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10695 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10696 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10697 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10698 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10699 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10700 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
10701 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
10702 @item gnus-treat-decode-article-as-default-mime-charset (t, integer)
10704 @xref{Article Washing}.
10706 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
10707 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
10708 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10709 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10710 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10711 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10712 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10714 @xref{Article Date}.
10716 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
10717 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
10718 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
10722 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10724 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
10726 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
10727 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
10728 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
10732 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
10736 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
10737 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
10738 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
10739 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
10740 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
10741 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
10742 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
10743 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
10744 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
10745 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
10747 @xref{Article Hiding}.
10749 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
10750 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
10751 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
10753 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
10755 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
10756 @item gnus-treat-translate
10757 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
10759 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
10760 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
10761 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
10762 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
10764 @xref{Article Header}.
10769 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
10770 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
10771 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
10772 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
10773 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
10777 @node Article Keymap
10778 @section Article Keymap
10780 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
10781 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
10782 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
10783 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
10786 A few additional keystrokes are available:
10791 @kindex SPACE (Article)
10792 @findex gnus-article-next-page
10793 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
10794 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
10797 @kindex DEL (Article)
10798 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
10799 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
10800 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
10803 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
10804 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
10805 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
10806 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
10807 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
10810 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
10811 @findex gnus-article-mail
10812 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
10813 given a prefix, include the mail.
10816 @kindex s (Article)
10817 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
10818 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
10819 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
10822 @kindex ? (Article)
10823 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
10824 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
10825 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
10828 @kindex TAB (Article)
10829 @findex gnus-article-next-button
10830 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
10831 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
10834 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
10835 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
10836 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
10839 @kindex R (Article)
10840 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
10841 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
10842 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
10843 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10847 @kindex F (Article)
10848 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
10849 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
10850 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
10851 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10859 @section Misc Article
10863 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
10864 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
10865 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
10866 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
10869 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
10870 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
10872 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
10873 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
10875 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
10876 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
10877 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
10878 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
10879 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
10880 the contents of the article buffer.
10882 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
10883 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
10884 Hook called in article mode buffers.
10886 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10887 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10888 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
10889 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
10891 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
10892 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
10893 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
10894 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
10895 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
10901 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
10902 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
10903 performed. The characters and their meaning:
10908 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
10911 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
10914 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
10915 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
10916 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
10919 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
10922 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
10925 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
10930 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
10934 @vindex gnus-break-pages
10936 @item gnus-break-pages
10937 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
10938 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
10939 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
10940 paging will not be done.
10942 @item gnus-page-delimiter
10943 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
10944 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
10948 @cindex internationalized domain names
10949 @vindex gnus-use-idna
10950 @item gnus-use-idna
10951 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
10952 internationalized domain names inside @sc{From:}, @sc{To:} and
10953 @sc{Cc:} headers. This requires GNU Libidn
10954 (@url{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/}, and this variable is only
10955 enabled if you have installed it.
10960 @node Composing Messages
10961 @chapter Composing Messages
10962 @cindex composing messages
10965 @cindex sending mail
10970 @cindex using s/mime
10971 @cindex using smime
10973 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
10974 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
10975 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
10976 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
10977 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
10978 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
10981 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
10982 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
10983 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
10984 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
10985 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
10986 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
10987 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
10988 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
10991 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
10992 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
10998 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
11001 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
11002 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
11003 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
11004 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
11005 @code{nil} include all headers.
11007 @item gnus-add-to-list
11008 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
11009 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
11010 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
11012 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11013 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11014 This can also be a function receiving the group name as the only
11015 parameter which should return non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is
11016 needed, or a regular expression matching group names, where
11017 confirmation is should be asked for.
11019 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
11020 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
11022 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11023 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11024 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
11025 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
11026 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
11031 @node Posting Server
11032 @section Posting Server
11034 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
11035 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
11037 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
11039 It can be quite complicated.
11041 @vindex gnus-post-method
11042 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
11043 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
11044 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
11045 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
11046 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
11047 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
11048 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
11049 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
11050 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
11053 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
11056 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
11057 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
11058 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
11059 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
11061 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
11062 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
11064 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
11065 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
11068 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
11069 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
11071 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
11072 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
11073 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
11074 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
11075 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @sc{smtp}
11076 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
11077 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
11078 package correctly. An example:
11081 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
11082 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11083 ;; The following variable needs to be set because of the FLIM version of
11084 ;; smtpmail.el. Which smtpmail.el is used depends on the `load-path'.
11085 (setq smtp-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11088 To the thing similar to this, there is @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}.
11089 It is useful if your ISP requires the POP-before-SMTP authentication.
11090 See the documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
11092 Other possible choices for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
11093 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
11094 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
11096 @node Mail and Post
11097 @section Mail and Post
11099 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11103 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11104 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11105 @cindex mailing lists
11107 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11108 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
11109 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11110 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11111 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11112 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11113 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11114 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11115 still a pain, though.
11117 @item gnus-user-agent
11118 @vindex gnus-user-agent
11121 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
11122 User-Agent header. It can be one of the symbols @code{gnus} (show only
11123 Gnus version), @code{emacs-gnus} (show only Emacs and Gnus versions),
11124 @code{emacs-gnus-config} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus system
11125 configuration), @code{emacs-gnus-type} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus
11126 system type) or a custom string. If you set it to a string, be sure to
11127 use a valid format, see RFC 2616."
11131 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11132 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11133 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11136 @findex ispell-message
11138 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11141 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11142 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11145 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11149 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11150 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11152 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11155 Modify to suit your needs.
11158 @node Archived Messages
11159 @section Archived Messages
11160 @cindex archived messages
11161 @cindex sent messages
11163 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11164 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11165 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11166 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11169 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11170 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11173 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11174 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
11175 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11178 (nnfolder "archive"
11179 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11180 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11181 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11182 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11185 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11186 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11187 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11188 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11191 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11192 '(nnfolder "archive"
11193 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11194 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11195 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11198 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11200 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11201 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11202 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11204 This variable can be used to do the following:
11209 Messages will be saved in that group.
11211 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11212 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11213 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11214 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11215 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11216 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11217 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11218 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11222 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11224 an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11225 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11228 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11233 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11235 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11238 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11240 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11243 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11245 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11246 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11247 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11248 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11251 More complex stuff:
11253 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11254 '((if (message-news-p)
11259 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11260 messages in one file per month:
11263 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11264 '((if (message-news-p)
11266 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11269 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11270 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11272 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11273 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11274 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11275 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11276 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11277 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11278 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11279 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11280 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11281 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11283 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11284 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11285 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11286 this will disable archiving.
11289 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11290 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11291 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11292 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11293 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11296 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11297 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11298 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11301 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11302 but the latter is the preferred method.
11304 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11305 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11306 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11308 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11309 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11310 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11311 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11312 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11313 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11314 changed in the future.
11319 @node Posting Styles
11320 @section Posting Styles
11321 @cindex posting styles
11324 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11326 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11327 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11328 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11331 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11332 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11333 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11334 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11335 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11340 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11341 (organization "What me?"))
11343 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11344 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11345 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11348 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11349 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11350 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11351 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11352 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11353 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11354 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11355 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11357 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11358 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11359 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
11360 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
11361 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
11362 @var{regexp} are strings. (There original article is the one you are
11363 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
11364 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
11365 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
11366 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
11367 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
11368 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
11369 said to @dfn{match}.
11371 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11372 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
11373 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
11374 @code{x-face-file}, @code{address} (overriding
11375 @code{user-mail-address}), @code{name} (overriding
11376 @code{(user-full-name)}) or @code{body}. The attribute name can also
11377 be a string or a symbol. In that case, this will be used as a header
11378 name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the article; if
11379 the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed. If the
11380 attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the result
11383 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11384 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11385 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11386 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11387 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11388 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11389 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11390 references chars lines xref extra.
11392 @vindex message-reply-headers
11394 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11395 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11396 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11398 @findex message-mail-p
11399 @findex message-news-p
11401 So here's a new example:
11404 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11406 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11408 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11409 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11411 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11412 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; A form
11413 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11414 (message-news-p ;; A function symbol
11415 (signature my-news-signature))
11416 (window-system ;; A value symbol
11417 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11418 ;; If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.
11419 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11420 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11421 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; A user defined function
11422 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11423 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11424 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11425 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11427 (From (save-excursion
11428 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11429 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11431 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11434 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11435 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11436 if you fill many roles.
11438 Setting the @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} variable will make
11439 posting-styles allow to have distinctive names. You can specify an
11440 arbitrary posting-style when article posting with @kbd{S P} in the
11441 summary buffer. @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} is an alist which maps
11442 the names to styles. Once a posting-style is added to the alist, we can
11443 import it from @code{gnus-posting-styles}. If an attribute whose name
11444 is @code{import} is found, Gnus will look for the attribute value in
11445 @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} and expand it in place.
11450 (setq gnus-named-posting-styles
11452 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11454 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11455 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11458 (organization "The Church of Emacs"))))
11461 The posting-style named "Emacs" will inherit all the attributes from
11462 "Default" except @code{organization}.
11469 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11470 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11471 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11472 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11473 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11475 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11476 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11477 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11478 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11479 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11483 @vindex nndraft-directory
11484 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11485 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11486 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11487 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11488 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11489 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11491 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11492 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11493 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
11494 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
11495 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
11496 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
11497 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
11498 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
11499 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
11501 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11502 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11503 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11504 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11505 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11506 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11507 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11508 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11509 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11510 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11511 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11512 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11513 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11514 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11516 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11517 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11518 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11520 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11521 @kindex D e (Draft)
11522 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11523 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11524 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11526 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11529 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11530 @kindex D s (Draft)
11531 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11532 @kindex D S (Draft)
11533 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11534 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11535 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11536 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11537 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11540 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
11541 @kindex D t (Draft)
11542 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11543 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11544 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11547 @node Rejected Articles
11548 @section Rejected Articles
11549 @cindex rejected articles
11551 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11552 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11553 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11554 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11556 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
11557 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11558 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11559 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
11560 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11562 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11563 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11564 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11566 @node Signing and encrypting
11567 @section Signing and encrypting
11569 @cindex using s/mime
11570 @cindex using smime
11572 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla PGP
11573 format or @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}. For decoding such messages,
11574 see the @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} options
11575 (@pxref{Security}).
11577 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
11578 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
11579 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
11580 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11581 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11582 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11583 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11584 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11585 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11586 automatically encrypted messages.
11588 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @sc{mime} part is
11589 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
11590 C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11595 @kindex C-c C-m s s
11596 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
11598 Digitally sign current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11601 @kindex C-c C-m s o
11602 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11604 Digitally sign current message using PGP.
11607 @kindex C-c C-m s p
11608 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11610 Digitally sign current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11613 @kindex C-c C-m c s
11614 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
11616 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11619 @kindex C-c C-m c o
11620 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
11622 Digitally encrypt current message using PGP.
11625 @kindex C-c C-m c p
11626 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
11628 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11631 @kindex C-c C-m C-n
11632 @findex mml-unsecure-message
11633 Remove security related MML tags from message.
11637 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
11639 @node Select Methods
11640 @chapter Select Methods
11641 @cindex foreign groups
11642 @cindex select methods
11644 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
11645 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
11646 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
11647 personal mail group.
11649 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
11650 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
11651 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
11652 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
11653 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
11654 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
11656 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
11657 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
11659 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
11662 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
11663 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
11664 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
11665 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
11666 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
11668 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
11671 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
11672 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
11673 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
11674 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
11675 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
11676 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
11677 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
11678 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
11682 @node Server Buffer
11683 @section Server Buffer
11685 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
11686 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
11687 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
11688 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
11689 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
11690 back end represents a virtual server.
11692 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
11693 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
11694 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
11695 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
11697 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
11698 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
11699 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
11700 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
11701 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
11702 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
11703 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
11705 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
11706 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
11709 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
11710 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
11711 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
11712 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
11713 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
11714 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
11715 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
11718 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
11719 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
11722 @node Server Buffer Format
11723 @subsection Server Buffer Format
11724 @cindex server buffer format
11726 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
11727 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
11728 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
11729 variable, with some simple extensions:
11734 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
11737 The name of this server.
11740 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
11743 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
11746 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
11747 The mode line can also be customized by using the
11748 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
11749 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
11759 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
11762 @node Server Commands
11763 @subsection Server Commands
11764 @cindex server commands
11770 @findex gnus-server-add-server
11771 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
11775 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
11776 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
11779 @kindex SPACE (Server)
11780 @findex gnus-server-read-server
11781 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
11785 @findex gnus-server-exit
11786 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
11790 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
11791 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
11795 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
11796 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
11800 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
11801 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
11805 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
11806 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
11810 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
11811 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
11812 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
11817 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
11818 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
11819 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
11820 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
11825 @node Example Methods
11826 @subsection Example Methods
11828 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
11831 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
11834 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
11840 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
11841 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
11844 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
11845 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
11847 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
11848 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
11852 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
11855 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
11856 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
11858 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
11859 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
11860 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
11864 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
11867 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
11870 Here's the method for a public spool:
11874 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
11875 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
11881 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
11882 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
11883 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
11884 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
11885 should probably look something like this:
11889 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
11890 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
11891 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
11892 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11895 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
11896 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
11897 configuration to the example above:
11900 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
11903 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
11905 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
11906 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
11907 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
11911 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11912 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
11913 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
11914 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11917 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
11918 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
11919 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
11920 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
11923 @node Creating a Virtual Server
11924 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
11926 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
11927 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
11929 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
11930 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
11931 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
11933 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
11935 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
11936 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
11937 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
11938 will contain the following:
11948 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
11949 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
11950 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
11953 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
11954 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
11955 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
11958 @node Server Variables
11959 @subsection Server Variables
11961 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
11962 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
11963 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
11964 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
11965 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
11967 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
11968 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
11969 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
11970 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
11971 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
11972 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
11973 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
11974 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
11975 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
11979 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
11980 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
11981 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
11985 @node Servers and Methods
11986 @subsection Servers and Methods
11988 Wherever you would normally use a select method
11989 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
11990 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
11991 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
11995 @node Unavailable Servers
11996 @subsection Unavailable Servers
11998 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
11999 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
12000 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
12001 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
12002 actually the case or not.
12004 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
12005 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
12006 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
12007 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
12008 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
12009 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
12010 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
12011 it will regard that server as ``down''.
12013 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
12014 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
12016 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
12017 with the following commands:
12023 @findex gnus-server-open-server
12024 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
12025 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
12029 @findex gnus-server-close-server
12030 Close the connection (if any) to the server
12031 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
12035 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
12036 Mark the current server as unreachable
12037 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
12040 @kindex M-o (Server)
12041 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
12042 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
12043 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
12046 @kindex M-c (Server)
12047 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
12048 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
12049 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
12053 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
12054 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
12055 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
12059 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
12060 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
12066 @section Getting News
12067 @cindex reading news
12068 @cindex news back ends
12070 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
12071 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
12072 or it can read from a local spool.
12075 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
12076 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
12084 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
12085 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
12086 server as the, uhm, address.
12088 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
12089 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
12090 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
12091 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12093 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
12094 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
12095 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
12097 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
12102 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
12103 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
12104 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
12106 @cindex authentification
12107 @cindex nntp authentification
12108 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12109 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
12110 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
12111 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
12112 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
12113 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
12114 present in this hook.
12116 @item nntp-authinfo-function
12117 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
12118 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12119 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
12120 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
12121 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
12122 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
12123 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
12124 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
12125 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
12126 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
12127 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
12131 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
12134 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
12136 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
12137 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
12138 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
12139 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
12140 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
12141 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
12142 @samp{force} is explained below.
12146 Here's an example file:
12149 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12150 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12153 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12154 have to be first, for instance.
12156 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12157 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12158 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12159 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12160 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12161 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12162 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12164 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12165 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12171 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12172 previously mentioned.
12174 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12176 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12177 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12178 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12179 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12180 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12183 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12184 '(("innd" (ding))))
12187 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12189 The default value is
12192 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12193 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12194 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12197 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12198 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12200 @item nntp-maximum-request
12201 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12202 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this back end
12203 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12204 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12205 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12206 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12207 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12209 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12210 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12211 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12212 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
12213 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12214 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12215 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12216 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12217 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12218 no timeouts are done.
12220 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
12221 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
12222 @c @cindex PPP connections
12223 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
12224 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
12225 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
12226 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
12227 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
12228 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
12229 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
12230 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
12231 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
12232 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
12234 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
12235 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
12236 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
12237 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
12238 @c described above.
12240 @item nntp-server-hook
12241 @vindex nntp-server-hook
12242 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
12245 @item nntp-buggy-select
12246 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
12247 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
12249 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12250 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12251 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
12252 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
12255 @item nntp-xover-commands
12256 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12259 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
12260 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12264 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12265 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
12266 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12267 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12268 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
12269 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12270 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12271 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12272 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12273 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12274 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12276 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12277 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12278 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
12280 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12281 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12282 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12283 server closes connection.
12285 @item nntp-record-commands
12286 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12287 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12288 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12289 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
12290 that doesn't seem to work.
12292 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12293 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12294 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12295 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12296 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12297 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12298 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12299 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12301 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12302 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12303 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12304 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12305 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12306 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12307 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12310 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12313 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12314 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12316 @item nntp-read-timeout
12317 @vindex nntp-read-timeout
12318 How long nntp should wait between checking for the end of output.
12319 Shorter values mean quicker response, but is more CPU intensive. The
12320 default is 0.1 seconds. If you have a slow line to the server (and
12321 don't like to see Emacs eat your available CPU power), you might set
12324 @item nntp-list-options
12325 @vindex nntp-list-options
12326 List of newsgroup name used for a option of the LIST command to restrict
12327 the listing output to only the specified newsgroups. Each newsgroup name
12328 can be a shell-style wildcard, for instance, @dfn{fj.*}, @dfn{japan.*},
12329 etc. Fortunately, if the server can accept such a option, it will
12330 probably make gnus run faster. You may use it as a server variable as
12334 (setq gnus-select-method
12335 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12336 (nntp-list-options ("fj.*" "japan.*"))))
12339 @item nntp-options-subscribe
12340 @vindex nntp-options-subscribe
12341 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will be subscribed
12342 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12343 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12344 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12345 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12348 (setq gnus-select-method
12349 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12350 (nntp-options-subscribe "^fj\\.\\|^japan\\.")))
12353 @item nntp-options-not-subscribe
12354 @vindex nntp-options-not-subscribe
12355 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will not be subscribed
12356 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12357 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12358 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12359 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12362 (setq gnus-select-method
12363 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12364 (nntp-options-not-subscribe "\\.binaries\\.")))
12369 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12370 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12371 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12375 @node Direct Functions
12376 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12377 @cindex direct connection functions
12379 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12380 between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
12381 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12382 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12385 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12386 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12387 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12390 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
12391 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
12392 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12393 this you must have GNUTLS installed (see
12394 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}). You then define a server
12398 ;; "nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
12399 ;; however, gnutls-cli -p doesn't like named ports.
12401 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12402 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
12403 (nntp-port-number )
12404 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12407 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12408 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12409 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
12410 you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
12411 installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}. You then
12412 define a server as follows:
12415 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
12416 ;; however, openssl s_client -port doesn't like named ports.
12418 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12419 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12420 (nntp-port-number 563)
12421 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12424 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12425 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12426 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12427 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12428 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12429 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12430 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12431 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12435 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12436 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12437 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12440 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12441 session, which is not a good idea.
12445 @node Indirect Functions
12446 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12447 @cindex indirect connection functions
12449 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12450 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
12451 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12452 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
12453 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12454 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12457 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12458 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12459 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12460 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12461 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12463 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12466 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12467 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12468 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12469 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12471 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12472 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12473 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12474 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12475 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
12476 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12477 this to @samp{("-t")} or @samp{("-C" "-t")} if the telnet command
12478 requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate host.
12481 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12482 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12483 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12484 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12486 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12489 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12490 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12491 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12494 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12495 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12496 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12497 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12499 @item nntp-via-user-password
12500 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12501 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12503 @item nntp-via-envuser
12504 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12505 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12506 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12507 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12509 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12510 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12511 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12512 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12519 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12524 @item nntp-via-user-name
12525 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12526 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12528 @item nntp-via-address
12529 @vindex nntp-via-address
12530 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12535 @node Common Variables
12536 @subsubsection Common Variables
12538 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12539 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12544 @item nntp-pre-command
12545 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12546 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
12547 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
12548 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is
12549 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
12552 @vindex nntp-address
12553 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
12555 @item nntp-port-number
12556 @vindex nntp-port-number
12557 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is
12558 @samp{nntp}. If you use @sc{nntp} over @sc{tls}/@sc{ssl}, you may
12559 want to use integer ports rather than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563}
12560 instead of @samp{snews} or @samp{nntps}), because external TLS/SSL
12561 tools may not work with named ports.
12563 @item nntp-end-of-line
12564 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12565 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
12566 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12567 using a non native connection function.
12569 @item nntp-telnet-command
12570 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12571 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
12572 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
12573 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
12575 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12576 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12577 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12584 @subsection News Spool
12588 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12589 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12590 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12593 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12594 anything else) as the address.
12596 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12597 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12598 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12599 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12603 @item nnspool-inews-program
12604 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12605 Program used to post an article.
12607 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12608 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12609 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12611 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12612 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12613 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12614 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12616 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12617 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12618 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
12619 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12621 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12622 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12623 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12625 @item nnspool-active-file
12626 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12627 The name of the active file.
12629 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12630 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12631 The name of the group descriptions file.
12633 @item nnspool-history-file
12634 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12635 The name of the news history file.
12637 @item nnspool-active-times-file
12638 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
12639 The name of the active date file.
12641 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
12642 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
12643 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
12646 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12647 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12649 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12650 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
12651 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
12657 @section Getting Mail
12658 @cindex reading mail
12661 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
12665 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
12666 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
12667 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
12668 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
12669 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
12670 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
12671 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
12672 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
12673 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
12674 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
12675 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
12676 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
12677 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
12681 @node Mail in a Newsreader
12682 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
12684 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
12685 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
12686 of a culture shock.
12688 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
12689 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
12691 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
12692 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
12693 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
12694 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
12696 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
12698 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
12699 deleted? How awful!
12701 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
12702 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
12703 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
12704 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
12707 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
12708 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
12709 they want to treat a message.
12711 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
12712 via @sc{smtp}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
12713 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
12714 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
12715 archived somewhere else.
12717 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
12718 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
12719 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
12720 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
12721 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
12723 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
12724 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
12725 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
12727 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
12728 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
12731 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
12732 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
12733 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
12734 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
12735 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
12737 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
12738 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
12739 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
12740 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
12741 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
12742 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
12746 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
12747 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
12749 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
12750 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
12751 and things will happen automatically.
12753 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
12754 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
12757 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12760 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
12761 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
12762 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
12763 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
12764 like any other group.
12766 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
12769 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12770 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12771 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12775 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
12776 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
12777 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
12780 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
12781 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
12782 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
12785 @node Splitting Mail
12786 @subsection Splitting Mail
12787 @cindex splitting mail
12788 @cindex mail splitting
12790 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
12791 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
12792 to be split into groups.
12795 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12796 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12797 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12798 ("mail.other" "")))
12801 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
12802 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
12803 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
12804 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
12805 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
12806 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
12807 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
12810 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
12813 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
12814 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
12815 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
12816 mail belongs in that group.
12818 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
12819 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{*} so that it matches any mails
12820 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
12821 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
12822 rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled.
12823 In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.)
12825 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
12826 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
12827 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
12828 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
12829 thinks should carry this mail message.
12831 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
12832 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
12833 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
12834 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
12836 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
12837 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
12838 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
12839 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
12840 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{*}) group.
12842 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
12845 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
12846 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
12847 links. If that's the case for you, set
12848 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
12849 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
12851 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
12852 @kindex nnmail-split-history
12853 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
12854 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
12855 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
12856 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
12859 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
12860 Header lines longer than the value of
12861 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
12864 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
12865 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
12866 By default the splitting codes @sc{mime} decodes headers so you can match
12867 on non-ASCII strings. The @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
12868 variable specifies the default charset for decoding. The behaviour
12869 can be turned off completely by binding
12870 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to nil, which is useful if you
12871 want to match articles based on the raw header data.
12873 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
12874 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If
12875 you specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable
12876 @code{mail-sources} @pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}, however, then
12877 splitting does @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
12878 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-nil value to make splitting
12879 happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on other kinds
12882 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
12883 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
12884 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
12885 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
12886 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
12887 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
12888 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
12889 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
12890 month's rent money.
12894 @subsection Mail Sources
12896 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
12897 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
12901 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
12902 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
12903 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
12907 @node Mail Source Specifiers
12908 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
12910 @cindex mail server
12913 @cindex mail source
12915 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
12916 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
12921 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
12924 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
12925 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
12926 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
12929 The following mail source types are available:
12933 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
12939 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
12940 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
12941 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
12945 Script run before/after fetching mail.
12948 An example file mail source:
12951 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
12954 Or using the default file name:
12960 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
12961 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
12962 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
12965 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
12969 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
12972 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
12976 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
12979 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
12981 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
12984 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
12988 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
12989 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
12990 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files. That is,
12991 there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that directory and
12992 groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in
12993 the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
12994 of @code{.spool}.) Setting
12995 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus to
12996 scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you want
12997 to scan mail groups at a specified level.
12999 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13000 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
13001 that to a non-nil value, then the normal splitting process is applied
13002 to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
13008 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
13012 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
13016 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
13017 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
13018 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
13019 predicate are considered.
13023 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13027 An example directory mail source:
13030 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
13035 Get mail from a POP server.
13041 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
13042 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13045 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
13046 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
13047 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
13048 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
13049 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
13052 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
13056 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
13060 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
13061 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
13064 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
13067 The valid format specifier characters are:
13071 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
13072 included in this string.
13075 The name of the server.
13078 The port number of the server.
13081 The user name to use.
13084 The password to use.
13087 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13088 corresponding keywords.
13091 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13092 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13095 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13096 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13099 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
13100 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
13103 @item :authentication
13104 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
13105 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
13109 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this can be the symbol
13110 @code{ssl}, the symbol @code{tls} or others. The default is @code{nil}
13111 and use insecure connections. Note that for SSL/TLS, you need external
13112 programs and libraries:
13116 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL@. Requires OpenSSL (the program
13117 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
13118 library @samp{ssl.el}.
13120 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to SSL)@.
13121 Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
13126 Non-@code{nil} if mail is to be left on the server and UIDL used for
13127 message retrieval. The default is @code{nil}.
13131 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
13132 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
13134 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
13135 default user name, and default fetcher:
13141 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
13144 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
13145 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
13148 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
13151 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
13155 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
13156 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
13157 contains exactly one mail.
13163 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
13164 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
13167 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
13168 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
13170 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
13171 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
13172 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
13175 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
13176 from locking problems).
13180 Two example maildir mail sources:
13183 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
13184 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
13188 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
13193 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
13194 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
13195 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
13196 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
13199 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, TLS/SSL and STARTTLS support you
13200 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
13206 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
13207 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13210 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
13211 @samp{993} for TLS/SSL connections.
13214 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
13218 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
13222 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
13223 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
13224 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
13225 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
13227 @item :authentication
13228 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
13229 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
13230 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
13231 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13234 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13235 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
13236 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13242 The valid format specifier characters are:
13246 The name of the server.
13249 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
13252 The port number of the server.
13255 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13256 corresponding keywords.
13259 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13260 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13263 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13264 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13265 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
13266 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13267 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13268 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13271 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13272 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13273 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13274 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13277 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
13278 after finishing the fetch.
13282 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
13285 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13287 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13291 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{www.hotmail.com},
13292 @uref{webmail.netscape.com}, @uref{www.netaddress.com},
13293 @uref{mail.yahoo..com}.
13295 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13296 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13298 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13304 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13305 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13308 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13312 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13316 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
13317 folder after finishing the fetch.
13321 An example webmail source:
13324 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13326 :password "secret")
13331 @item Common Keywords
13332 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13338 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
13339 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
13343 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13348 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13349 useful when you use local mail and news.
13354 @subsubsection Function Interface
13356 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13357 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13358 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13359 consider the following mail-source setting:
13362 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13363 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13366 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13367 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13368 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13369 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13370 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13372 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13375 @node Mail Source Customization
13376 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13378 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13379 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13383 @item mail-source-crash-box
13384 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13385 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
13386 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13388 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13389 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13390 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
13391 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
13392 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
13393 (This will only happen, when reveiving new mail). You may also set
13394 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
13395 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
13397 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13398 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13399 If @code{non-nil}, ask for for confirmation before deleting old incoming
13400 files. This variable only applies when
13401 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
13403 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
13404 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
13405 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
13407 @item mail-source-directory
13408 @vindex mail-source-directory
13409 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13410 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13411 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13414 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13415 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13416 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13417 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13418 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13419 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13421 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13422 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13423 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13425 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13426 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13427 If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
13428 @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13433 @node Fetching Mail
13434 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13436 @vindex mail-sources
13437 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13438 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13439 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13440 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13442 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13443 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13446 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
13447 mail server, you'd say something like:
13452 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13453 :password "secret")))
13456 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13460 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13461 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13464 :password "secret")))
13468 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13469 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13470 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13471 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13472 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13473 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13477 @node Mail Back End Variables
13478 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13480 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13484 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13485 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13486 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13487 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13489 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13490 @item nnmail-split-hook
13491 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
13492 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
13493 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
13494 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13495 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13496 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13497 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13498 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13499 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13502 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13503 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13504 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13505 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13506 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13507 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13508 starting to handle the new mail) and
13509 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13510 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13511 default file modes the new mail files get:
13514 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13515 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13517 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13518 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13521 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13522 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13523 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13524 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13525 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13526 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13527 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13529 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13530 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13531 @findex delete-file
13532 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13534 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13535 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13536 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13537 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13538 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13540 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13541 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13542 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13543 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13544 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13546 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13547 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13548 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13553 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13554 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13555 @cindex mail splitting
13556 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13558 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13559 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13560 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13561 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13562 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13563 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13565 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13568 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
13569 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
13570 ;; from real errors.
13571 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13573 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
13574 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
13575 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
13576 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13577 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13578 ;; Other mailing lists...
13579 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13580 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13581 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
13582 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
13583 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
13584 ;; message was really cross-posted.
13585 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13586 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13588 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13589 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
13593 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
13594 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
13595 the five possible split syntaxes:
13600 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
13601 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
13605 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
13606 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
13607 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
13608 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
13609 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
13610 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
13611 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
13612 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13615 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13616 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
13617 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
13618 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
13621 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13622 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
13625 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
13626 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
13629 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
13630 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
13631 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
13632 function should return a @var{split}.
13635 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13636 body of the messages:
13639 (defun split-on-body ()
13641 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
13642 (goto-char (point-min))
13643 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13647 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
13648 when the @code{:} function is run.
13651 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the
13652 first element is @code{!}, then @var{split} will be processed, and
13653 @var{func} will be called as a function with the result of @var{split}
13654 as argument. @var{func} should return a split.
13657 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
13661 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
13662 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
13663 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
13664 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
13665 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
13667 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
13668 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
13669 are expanded as specified by the variable
13670 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
13671 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
13674 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
13675 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
13676 when all this splitting is performed.
13678 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
13679 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
13680 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
13683 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
13686 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
13687 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
13689 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
13690 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
13691 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
13692 groupings 1 through 9.
13694 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
13695 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
13696 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
13697 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
13698 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
13699 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
13700 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
13701 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
13702 it once per thread.
13704 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
13705 @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
13706 you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
13709 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; or 'delete
13710 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
13712 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
13713 ;; other splits go here
13717 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
13718 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
13719 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
13720 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
13721 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
13722 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
13723 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
13724 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
13725 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
13726 unless the group name matches the regexp
13727 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
13728 that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
13729 number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
13730 (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
13731 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13732 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
13733 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
13734 messages goes into the new group.
13736 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
13737 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
13738 outgoing messages are written to an `outgoing' group, you could set
13739 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
13740 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
13744 @node Group Mail Splitting
13745 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
13746 @cindex mail splitting
13747 @cindex group mail splitting
13749 @findex gnus-group-split
13750 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
13751 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
13752 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
13753 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
13754 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
13755 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
13756 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
13757 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
13759 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
13760 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
13761 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
13762 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
13764 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
13765 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
13766 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
13767 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
13768 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
13769 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
13770 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
13772 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
13773 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
13774 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
13775 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
13776 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
13777 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
13778 @code{gnus-group-split}.
13780 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
13781 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
13782 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
13783 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
13784 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
13785 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
13786 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
13787 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
13788 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
13789 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
13790 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
13791 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
13792 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
13794 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
13799 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
13800 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
13802 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
13803 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
13804 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
13805 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
13807 ((split-spec . catch-all))
13810 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
13811 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
13812 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
13815 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
13816 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
13817 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
13821 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
13822 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
13823 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
13827 (: gnus-group-split-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
13830 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
13831 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
13832 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
13833 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
13834 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
13835 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
13836 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
13837 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
13838 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
13840 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
13841 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
13842 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
13843 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
13844 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
13845 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
13846 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
13847 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
13848 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
13850 @findex gnus-group-split-update
13851 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
13852 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
13853 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
13854 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
13855 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus.el}:
13858 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
13861 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
13862 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
13863 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
13864 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
13865 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
13868 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
13869 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
13870 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
13871 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
13873 @node Incorporating Old Mail
13874 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
13875 @cindex incorporating old mail
13876 @cindex import old mail
13878 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
13879 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
13880 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
13883 Doing so can be quite easy.
13885 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
13886 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
13887 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
13888 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
13889 your @code{nnml} groups.
13895 Go to the group buffer.
13898 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
13899 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13902 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
13905 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
13906 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13909 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
13910 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
13913 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
13914 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
13915 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
13916 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
13917 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
13919 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
13920 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
13921 using the new mail back end.
13924 @node Expiring Mail
13925 @subsection Expiring Mail
13926 @cindex article expiry
13928 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
13929 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
13930 different approach to mail reading.
13932 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
13933 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
13934 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
13935 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
13936 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
13937 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
13940 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
13941 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default keybindings, this means
13942 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
13943 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
13944 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
13945 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
13946 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
13947 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
13948 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
13950 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
13951 two features, called `auto-expire' and `total-expire', that can help you
13952 with this. In a nutshell, `auto-expire' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
13953 for you when you select an article. And `total-expire' means that Gnus
13954 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
13955 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
13956 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
13959 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
13960 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
13961 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
13962 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
13963 into its own group.)
13965 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
13966 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
13967 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
13968 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
13969 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
13970 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
13971 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring @pxref{Adaptive
13972 Scoring}. Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
13975 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13976 Groups that match the regular expression
13977 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
13978 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
13979 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
13981 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
13982 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
13983 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
13984 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
13985 @file{.gnus.el} file:
13987 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
13989 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
13990 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
13991 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
13994 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
13995 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
13996 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
13997 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
13998 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
14000 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
14001 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
14004 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14005 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
14008 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
14009 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
14011 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
14012 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
14013 don't really mix very well.
14015 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
14016 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
14017 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
14018 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
14021 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
14022 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
14023 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
14024 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
14027 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14029 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14031 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
14033 ((string= group "mail.junk")
14035 ((string= group "important")
14041 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
14042 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
14044 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
14045 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
14046 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
14049 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
14050 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
14052 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
14053 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
14054 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
14055 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
14056 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
14057 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
14058 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
14059 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
14060 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
14061 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
14062 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
14063 from as its parameter) which should return a target -- either a group
14064 name or @code{delete}.
14066 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
14068 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
14071 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14072 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14073 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
14074 expire mail to groups according to the variable
14075 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
14078 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14079 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14080 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
14081 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
14082 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
14085 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
14086 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
14087 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
14088 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
14089 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
14090 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
14092 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
14093 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
14094 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
14095 easier for procmail users.
14097 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
14098 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
14099 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
14100 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
14101 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
14102 caution. Even more dangerous is the
14103 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
14104 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
14105 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
14106 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
14107 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
14108 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
14109 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
14112 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
14114 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
14115 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
14116 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
14117 auto-expire turned on.
14121 @subsection Washing Mail
14122 @cindex mail washing
14123 @cindex list server brain damage
14124 @cindex incoming mail treatment
14126 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
14127 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
14128 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
14129 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
14130 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
14131 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
14133 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
14134 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
14135 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
14138 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
14139 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
14140 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
14141 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
14144 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14145 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14146 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
14147 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
14148 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
14151 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14152 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14153 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
14154 Emacs running on MS machines.
14158 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14159 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14160 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
14161 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
14164 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14165 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14166 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
14167 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
14169 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
14170 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
14171 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
14172 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
14173 into a feature by documenting it.)
14175 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14176 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14177 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
14178 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
14179 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
14180 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
14181 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
14184 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
14185 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
14188 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
14189 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
14192 This can also be done non-destructively with
14193 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
14195 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
14196 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
14197 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
14199 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14200 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14202 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
14203 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
14204 @code{References} headers.
14208 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14209 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14210 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
14214 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
14215 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
14216 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
14223 @subsection Duplicates
14225 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
14226 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
14227 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
14228 @cindex duplicate mails
14229 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
14230 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
14231 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
14232 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
14233 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
14234 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
14235 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
14236 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
14237 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
14238 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
14239 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
14240 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
14241 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
14243 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
14244 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
14245 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
14246 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
14248 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
14251 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
14252 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14256 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14257 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
14258 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14259 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
14260 (any mail "mail.misc")
14267 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14268 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14273 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14274 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14275 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14276 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14277 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14280 @node Not Reading Mail
14281 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14283 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14284 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14285 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14287 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14288 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14289 mail, which should help.
14291 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14292 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14293 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14294 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14295 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14296 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14297 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
14298 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14299 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14300 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14301 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14303 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14304 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14308 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14309 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
14311 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
14312 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
14313 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
14315 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
14316 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
14317 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
14321 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
14322 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
14323 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
14324 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
14325 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
14326 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
14327 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
14331 @node Unix Mail Box
14332 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
14334 @cindex unix mail box
14336 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14337 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14338 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
14339 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
14340 which group it belongs in.
14342 Virtual server settings:
14345 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
14346 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14347 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
14350 @item nnmbox-active-file
14351 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14352 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
14353 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
14355 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
14356 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14357 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
14358 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
14363 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
14367 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14368 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14369 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
14370 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
14371 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
14373 Virtual server settings:
14376 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
14377 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14378 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
14380 @item nnbabyl-active-file
14381 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14382 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
14383 @file{~/.rmail-active}
14385 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14386 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14387 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14393 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14395 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
14397 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14398 format. It should be used with some caution.
14400 @vindex nnml-directory
14401 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14402 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14403 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14404 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14406 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14409 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14410 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14411 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14412 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14413 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14414 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14415 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14416 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14418 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14419 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14420 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14421 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14423 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14425 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14426 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14427 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14428 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14429 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14430 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14431 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14432 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14435 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14436 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14437 them next time it starts.
14439 Virtual server settings:
14442 @item nnml-directory
14443 @vindex nnml-directory
14444 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
14445 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
14448 @item nnml-active-file
14449 @vindex nnml-active-file
14450 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14451 @file{~/Mail/active}.
14453 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14454 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14455 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14456 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
14458 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14459 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14460 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14463 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14464 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14465 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14466 default is @code{nil}.
14468 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14469 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14470 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14472 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14473 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14474 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14476 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14477 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14478 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14479 default is @code{nil}.
14481 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14482 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14483 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
14485 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
14486 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
14487 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
14492 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
14493 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
14494 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
14495 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
14496 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
14497 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
14498 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
14503 @subsubsection MH Spool
14505 @cindex mh-e mail spool
14507 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
14508 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
14509 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
14510 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
14512 Virtual server settings:
14515 @item nnmh-directory
14516 @vindex nnmh-directory
14517 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
14518 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14521 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
14522 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14523 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
14527 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
14528 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
14529 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
14530 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
14531 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
14532 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
14533 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
14538 @subsubsection Maildir
14542 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
14543 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
14544 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
14545 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. nnmaildir also
14546 stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory within a
14549 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
14550 reading, without needing locks. With other backends, you would have
14551 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
14552 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
14553 can still do that with nnmaildir, but the more common configuration is
14554 to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs that appear as
14557 nnmaildir is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will never
14558 corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never corrupt its
14559 data in the filesystem.
14561 nnmaildir stores article marks and NOV data in each maildir. So you
14562 can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to another, and you will
14565 Virtual server settings:
14569 For each of your nnmaildir servers (it's very unlikely that you'd need
14570 more than one), you need to create a directory and populate it with
14571 maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not choose a
14572 directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir will be
14573 represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the filename of the
14574 symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames in the directory
14575 starting with `.' are ignored. The directory is scanned when you
14576 first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in the group buffer;
14577 if any maildirs have been removed or added, nnmaildir notices at these
14580 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
14581 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
14582 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
14583 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
14584 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
14585 don't worry - a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
14586 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
14587 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
14588 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
14589 if nnmaildir uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical value.
14591 @item target-prefix
14592 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
14593 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
14594 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
14597 When you create a group on an nnmaildir server, the maildir is created
14598 with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
14599 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
14600 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
14601 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
14602 the group @code{foo}, nnmaildir will create
14603 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
14604 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
14605 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
14607 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
14608 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
14609 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
14610 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
14611 symlinks pointing to them will be).
14613 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
14614 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
14615 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
14616 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
14617 @code{force} argument.
14619 @item directory-files
14620 This should be a function with the same interface as
14621 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
14622 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
14623 parameter is optional; the default is
14624 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
14625 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
14626 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
14627 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
14628 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
14629 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
14632 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
14633 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
14634 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
14635 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
14636 value is @code{nil}.
14638 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
14639 an nnmaildir group. The results might happen to be useful, but that
14640 would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be different
14641 in the future. If your split rules create new groups, remember to
14642 supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
14645 @subsubsection Group parameters
14647 nnmaildir uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore all
14648 this; the default behavior for nnmaildir is the same as the default
14649 behavior for other mail backends: articles are deleted after one week,
14650 etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this functionality is
14651 unique to nnmaildir, so you can ignore it if you're just trying to
14652 duplicate the behavior you already have with another backend.
14654 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
14655 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
14656 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
14657 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
14658 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
14659 backends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
14660 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
14661 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
14662 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
14666 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article before
14667 it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
14668 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
14669 nnmaildir falls back to the usual
14670 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (overridable by
14671 the @code{expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) group parameters. If you
14672 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
14673 60 60)]}; nnmaildir will evaluate the form and use the result. An
14674 article's age is measured starting from the article file's
14675 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
14676 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
14677 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
14680 If this is set to a string (a full Gnus group name, like
14681 @code{"backend+server.address.string:group.name"}), and if it is not
14682 the name of the same group that the parameter belongs to, then
14683 articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry before
14684 being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an nnmaildir group, the
14685 article will be just as old in the destination group as it was in the
14686 source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
14687 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
14688 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
14689 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
14690 article. So that form can refer to
14691 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
14692 article. @emph{If this parameter is not set, nnmaildir does not fall
14693 back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
14694 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
14697 If this is set to @code{t}, nnmaildir will treat the articles in this
14698 maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed from
14699 @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in @file{new/},
14700 not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles cannot be
14701 edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the @file{new/}
14702 directory of another maildir - e.g., a system-wide mailbox containing
14703 a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the maildir outside
14704 @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for a shared
14705 mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or have write
14706 permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't contain
14707 extra copies of the articles.
14709 @item directory-files
14710 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
14711 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
14712 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
14713 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
14715 @item distrust-Lines:
14716 If non-@code{nil}, nnmaildir will always count the lines of an
14717 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
14718 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
14721 A list of mark symbols, such as
14722 @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever Gnus asks nnmaildir for
14723 article marks, nnmaildir will say that all articles have these
14724 marks, regardless of whether the marks stored in the filesystem
14725 say so. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will probably be
14726 removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
14727 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
14730 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
14731 Gnus asks nnmaildir for article marks, nnmaildir will say that no
14732 articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks stored in
14733 the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
14734 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
14735 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
14736 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
14738 @item nov-cache-size
14739 An integer specifying the size of the NOV memory cache. To speed
14740 things up, nnmaildir keeps NOV data in memory for a limited number of
14741 articles in each group. (This is probably not worthwhile, and will
14742 probably be removed in the future.) This parameter's value is noticed
14743 only the first time a group is seen after the server is opened - i.e.,
14744 when you first start Gnus, typically. The NOV cache is never resized
14745 until the server is closed and reopened. The default is an estimate
14746 of the number of articles that would be displayed in the summary
14747 buffer: a count of articles that are either marked with @code{tick} or
14748 not marked with @code{read}, plus a little extra.
14751 @subsubsection Article identification
14752 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
14753 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
14754 contains no colons. nnmaildir ignores, but preserves, the
14755 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
14756 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
14757 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
14758 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
14759 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
14760 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
14761 request the article in the summary buffer.
14763 @subsubsection NOV data
14764 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its NOV data (used to
14765 generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
14766 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
14767 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
14768 need for it - an article's NOV data is updated automatically when the
14769 article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can force
14770 nnmaildir to regenerate the NOV data for a single article simply by
14771 deleting the corresponding NOV file, but @emph{beware}: this will also
14772 cause nnmaildir to assign a new article number for this article, which
14773 may cause trouble with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
14775 @subsubsection Article marks
14776 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
14777 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
14778 When Gnus asks nnmaildir for a group's marks, nnmaildir looks for such
14779 files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus asks nnmaildir
14780 to store a new set of marks, nnmaildir creates and deletes the
14781 corresponding files as needed. (Actually, rather than create a new
14782 file for each mark, it just creates hard links to
14783 @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
14785 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
14786 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
14787 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
14788 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
14789 this while Gnus is running and your nnmaildir server is open, it's
14790 best to exit all summary buffers for nnmaildir groups and type @kbd{s}
14791 in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or @kbd{M-g} in the
14792 group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not pick up the
14793 changes, and might undo them.
14797 @subsubsection Mail Folders
14799 @cindex mbox folders
14800 @cindex mail folders
14802 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
14803 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
14804 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
14807 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
14809 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
14810 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14811 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14812 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
14813 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
14814 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
14815 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
14816 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
14817 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
14818 @code{nnfolder} directory).
14820 Virtual server settings:
14823 @item nnfolder-directory
14824 @vindex nnfolder-directory
14825 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
14826 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14829 @item nnfolder-active-file
14830 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
14831 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
14833 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14834 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14835 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14836 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
14838 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
14839 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14840 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
14843 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14844 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14845 @cindex backup files
14846 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
14847 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
14848 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
14849 your @file{.emacs} file:
14852 (defun turn-off-backup ()
14853 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
14855 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
14858 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14859 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14860 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
14861 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
14862 extract some information from it before removing it.
14864 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14865 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14866 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14867 default is @code{nil}.
14869 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14870 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14871 The extension for @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
14873 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
14874 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
14875 The directory where the @sc{nov} files should be stored. If nil,
14876 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14878 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14879 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14880 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14881 default is @code{nil}.
14883 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14884 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14885 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
14887 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
14888 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
14889 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If nil,
14890 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14895 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
14896 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
14897 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
14898 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
14899 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
14900 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
14903 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
14904 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
14906 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
14907 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
14908 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
14909 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
14910 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
14912 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
14913 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
14914 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
14915 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
14916 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
14917 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
14918 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
14919 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
14922 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
14923 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
14924 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
14925 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
14930 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
14931 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
14932 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
14933 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
14934 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
14935 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
14936 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
14937 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
14938 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
14939 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
14940 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
14941 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
14942 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
14947 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
14948 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
14949 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
14950 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
14951 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
14952 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
14953 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
14954 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
14955 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
14956 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
14957 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
14958 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
14959 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
14960 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
14962 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
14963 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
14968 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
14969 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
14970 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
14971 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
14972 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
14973 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
14974 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
14975 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
14976 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
14977 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
14978 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
14979 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
14980 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
14981 provided by the active file and overviews.
14983 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
14984 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
14985 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
14986 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
14987 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
14990 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
14991 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
14996 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
14997 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
14998 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
14999 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
15000 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
15001 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
15002 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
15006 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
15007 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
15008 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
15009 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
15010 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
15011 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
15012 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
15013 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
15014 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
15016 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
15017 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
15018 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
15019 friendly mail back end all over.
15023 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
15024 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
15027 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
15028 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
15029 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
15030 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
15031 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
15032 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
15033 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to ReiserFS
15034 (@uref{http://www.namesys.com/}) or another non-block-structured
15037 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
15038 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
15039 This means you can skip Gnus's mail splitting if your mail is already
15040 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
15041 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
15042 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
15043 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
15044 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
15045 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
15046 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
15047 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
15049 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
15050 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
15051 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
15052 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
15053 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
15056 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
15057 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
15058 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
15059 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
15060 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
15061 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
15062 removed in the future.
15064 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
15065 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
15066 on your file system.
15068 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
15069 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
15074 @node Browsing the Web
15075 @section Browsing the Web
15077 @cindex browsing the web
15081 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
15082 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
15083 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
15084 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
15085 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
15086 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
15087 even know what a news group is.
15089 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
15090 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
15091 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
15092 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
15093 you mad in the end.
15095 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
15098 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
15099 interfaces to these sources.
15103 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
15104 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
15105 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
15106 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
15107 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
15108 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
15111 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
15113 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
15114 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
15115 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
15116 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
15117 though, you should be ok.
15119 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
15120 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
15121 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
15122 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
15123 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
15125 @node Archiving Mail
15126 @subsection Archiving Mail
15127 @cindex archiving mail
15128 @cindex backup of mail
15130 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
15131 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
15132 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
15133 marks is fairly simple.
15135 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
15136 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
15139 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
15140 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
15141 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
15142 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
15143 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
15144 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
15145 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
15146 before you restore the data.
15148 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
15149 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
15150 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
15151 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
15152 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
15153 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
15154 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
15155 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
15156 is unnecessary in that case.
15159 @subsection Web Searches
15164 @cindex Usenet searches
15165 @cindex searching the Usenet
15167 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
15168 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
15169 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
15170 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
15171 searches without having to use a browser.
15173 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
15174 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
15175 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
15176 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
15177 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
15179 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
15180 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
15181 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
15182 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
15183 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
15184 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
15185 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
15186 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
15187 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
15188 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
15191 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
15192 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
15193 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
15194 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
15195 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
15196 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
15198 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
15199 to use @code{nnweb}.
15201 Virtual server variables:
15206 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
15207 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
15208 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
15211 @vindex nnweb-search
15212 The search string to feed to the search engine.
15214 @item nnweb-max-hits
15215 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
15216 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
15219 @item nnweb-type-definition
15220 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
15221 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
15222 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
15227 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
15231 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
15234 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
15237 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
15241 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
15248 @subsection Slashdot
15252 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
15253 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
15254 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
15256 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
15257 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
15260 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15261 '((nnslashdot "")))
15264 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
15265 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
15266 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
15267 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
15268 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
15271 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
15272 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
15274 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
15275 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
15276 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
15277 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
15278 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
15279 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
15282 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
15285 @item nnslashdot-threaded
15286 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
15287 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
15288 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
15289 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
15290 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
15291 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
15293 @item nnslashdot-login-name
15294 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
15295 The login name to use when posting.
15297 @item nnslashdot-password
15298 @vindex nnslashdot-password
15299 The password to use when posting.
15301 @item nnslashdot-directory
15302 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
15303 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
15304 @file{~/News/slashdot/}.
15306 @item nnslashdot-active-url
15307 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
15308 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
15309 news articles and comments. The default is
15310 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
15312 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
15313 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
15314 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
15316 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
15318 @item nnslashdot-article-url
15319 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
15320 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
15322 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
15324 @item nnslashdot-threshold
15325 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
15326 The score threshold. The default is -1.
15328 @item nnslashdot-group-number
15329 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
15330 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
15331 updated. The default is 0.
15338 @subsection Ultimate
15340 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
15342 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
15343 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
15344 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
15345 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
15347 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
15348 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
15349 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
15350 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
15351 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
15352 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
15353 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
15355 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
15358 @item nnultimate-directory
15359 @vindex nnultimate-directory
15360 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
15361 @file{~/News/ultimate/}.
15366 @subsection Web Archive
15368 @cindex Web Archive
15370 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
15371 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
15372 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
15373 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15376 @findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
15377 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
15378 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
15379 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
15380 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
15381 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
15382 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
15383 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
15385 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
15388 @item nnwarchive-directory
15389 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
15390 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
15391 @file{~/News/warchive/}.
15393 @item nnwarchive-login
15394 @vindex nnwarchive-login
15395 The account name on the web server.
15397 @item nnwarchive-passwd
15398 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
15399 The password for your account on the web server.
15407 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
15408 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
15409 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15412 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
15413 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
15416 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
15419 @item nnrss-directory
15420 @vindex nnrss-directory
15421 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
15422 @file{~/News/rss/}.
15426 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
15427 the summary buffer.
15430 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
15431 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
15433 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
15435 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
15436 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
15439 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
15442 (require 'browse-url)
15444 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
15446 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
15449 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
15450 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
15453 (browse-url (cdr url))
15454 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
15455 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
15457 (eval-after-load "gnus"
15458 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
15459 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
15460 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
15463 @node Customizing w3
15464 @subsection Customizing w3
15470 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
15471 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
15472 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
15474 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
15475 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
15476 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
15479 (eval-after-load "w3"
15481 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
15482 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
15483 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
15484 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
15486 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
15489 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
15490 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
15499 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
15500 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
15501 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
15502 specify the network address of the server.
15504 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
15505 POP can, it can hence be viewed as a POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
15506 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
15507 protocol -- however, @sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp}
15508 because news is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
15510 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a POP++, use an imap entry in
15511 @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the
15512 @sc{imap} server and store them on the local disk. This is not the
15513 usage described in this section--@xref{Mail Sources}.
15515 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
15516 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
15517 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
15518 usage explained in this section.
15520 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
15521 might look something like the following. (Note that for TLS/SSL, you
15522 need external programs and libraries, see below.)
15525 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15526 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
15527 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
15529 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15530 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
15531 ; a UW server running on localhost
15533 (nnimap-server-port 143)
15534 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15535 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
15536 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
15537 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
15538 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
15539 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
15540 (nnimap-stream network))
15541 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
15543 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
15544 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
15545 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
15548 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
15549 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
15550 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
15551 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
15553 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
15558 @item nnimap-address
15559 @vindex nnimap-address
15561 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
15562 server name if not specified.
15564 @item nnimap-server-port
15565 @vindex nnimap-server-port
15566 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for TLS/SSL.
15568 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
15571 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15572 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
15575 @item nnimap-list-pattern
15576 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
15577 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
15578 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
15579 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
15580 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
15581 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
15583 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
15584 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
15585 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
15588 Example server specification:
15591 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15592 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
15593 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
15596 @item nnimap-stream
15597 @vindex nnimap-stream
15598 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
15599 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
15600 of TLS/SSL. (@sc{imap} over TLS/SSL is being replaced by STARTTLS, which
15601 can be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
15603 Example server specification:
15606 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15607 (nnimap-stream ssl))
15610 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
15614 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
15615 @samp{imtest} program.
15617 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
15619 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
15620 TLS/SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
15623 @dfn{tls:} Connect through TLS. Requires GNUTLS (the program
15624 @samp{gnutls-cli}).
15626 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the program
15627 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
15629 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
15631 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
15634 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
15635 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
15636 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
15637 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
15638 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
15639 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
15640 restrictions on @sc{imap} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
15641 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
15642 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
15645 For TLS connection, the @code{gnutls-cli} program from GNUTLS is
15646 needed. It is available from
15647 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}.
15649 @vindex imap-ssl-program
15650 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
15651 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
15652 and nnimap support it too - although the most recent versions of
15653 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
15654 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
15655 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
15658 @vindex imap-shell-program
15659 @vindex imap-shell-host
15660 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
15661 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
15663 @item nnimap-authenticator
15664 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
15666 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
15667 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
15669 Example server specification:
15672 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15673 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
15676 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
15680 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
15681 external program @code{imtest}.
15683 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
15686 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
15687 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
15689 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
15691 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
15693 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your email address as password.
15696 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
15698 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
15699 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
15700 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
15701 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
15702 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
15703 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
15706 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
15707 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
15708 running in circles yet?
15710 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
15711 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
15714 The possible options are:
15719 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
15722 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
15723 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
15724 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
15725 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
15727 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
15732 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
15733 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
15735 If non-nil (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as well),
15736 for other @sc{imap} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
15737 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
15738 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @sc{imap}
15739 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @sc{imap}
15742 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
15743 enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
15746 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
15747 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15748 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
15749 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15752 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
15753 as ticked for other users.
15755 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
15757 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
15759 This variable contain the @sc{imap} search command sent to server when
15760 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
15761 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
15762 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
15764 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
15765 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
15766 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
15767 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
15769 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
15770 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
15772 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
15773 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
15774 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
15780 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
15781 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
15782 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
15783 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
15784 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use IMAP namespace in Gnus.
15789 @node Splitting in IMAP
15790 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
15791 @cindex splitting imap mail
15793 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
15794 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
15795 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
15796 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
15797 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
15801 Here are the variables of interest:
15805 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
15806 @cindex splitting, crosspost
15808 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
15810 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
15811 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
15813 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
15815 @item nnimap-split-inbox
15816 @cindex splitting, inbox
15818 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
15820 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
15821 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
15825 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
15826 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
15829 No nnmail equivalent.
15831 @item nnimap-split-rule
15832 @cindex Splitting, rules
15833 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
15835 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
15838 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
15839 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
15840 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
15841 Neither did I, we need examples.
15844 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15846 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
15847 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
15848 ("INBOX.private" "")))
15851 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
15852 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
15853 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
15855 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
15856 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
15860 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
15863 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
15864 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
15866 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
15867 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
15868 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
15869 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
15871 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
15872 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
15873 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
15874 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
15875 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
15876 them every time you fetch new mail.)
15878 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
15879 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
15880 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
15882 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
15883 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
15884 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15886 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
15888 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
15889 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
15890 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
15893 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15894 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
15895 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
15896 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
15897 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
15898 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
15901 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
15902 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
15903 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
15904 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
15905 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
15906 group/function elements.
15908 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
15910 @item nnimap-split-predicate
15912 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
15914 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
15915 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
15917 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
15918 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
15919 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
15922 @item nnimap-split-fancy
15923 @cindex splitting, fancy
15924 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
15925 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
15927 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15928 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
15929 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
15931 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
15932 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15933 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
15934 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15939 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
15940 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
15943 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
15945 @item nnimap-split-download-body
15946 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
15947 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
15949 Set to non-nil to download entire articles during splitting. This is
15950 generally not required, and will slow things down considerably. You
15951 may need it if you want to use an advanced splitting function that
15952 analyses the body to split the article.
15956 @node Expiring in IMAP
15957 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
15958 @cindex expiring imap mail
15960 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
15961 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
15962 Mail}). Unlike splitting in IMAP (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}) it do
15963 not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
15964 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
15965 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
15968 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @sc{imap} server is
15969 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
15970 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
15971 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
15972 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
15973 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
15974 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
15975 messages. Most do, fortunately.
15979 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
15980 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
15982 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
15983 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
15985 @item nnmail-expiry-target
15987 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
15988 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
15989 that if the destination is a IMAP group on the same server, the
15990 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
15994 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
15995 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
15996 @cindex editing imap acls
15997 @cindex Access Control Lists
15998 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
16000 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
16002 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
16003 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
16004 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
16007 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
16008 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
16009 editing window with detailed instructions.
16011 Some possible uses:
16015 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
16016 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
16017 follow the list without subscribing to it.
16019 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
16020 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
16021 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
16025 @node Expunging mailboxes
16026 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
16030 @cindex Manual expunging
16032 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
16034 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
16035 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
16036 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
16038 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
16041 @node A note on namespaces
16042 @subsection A note on namespaces
16043 @cindex IMAP namespace
16046 The IMAP protocol has a concept called namespaces, described by the
16047 following text in the RFC:
16050 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
16052 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
16053 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
16054 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
16055 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
16057 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
16058 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
16059 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
16060 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
16061 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
16062 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
16065 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the IMAP
16066 implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace prefixes in a way
16067 that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
16069 Specifically, University of Washington's IMAP server uses mailbox
16070 names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only in the
16071 @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is created
16072 (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed without
16073 the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do not make it
16074 possible for the user to guarantee that user entered mailbox names
16075 will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands, you should
16076 simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in Gnus.
16078 See the UoW @sc{imapd} documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
16079 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
16080 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
16082 @node Other Sources
16083 @section Other Sources
16085 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
16086 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
16090 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
16091 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
16092 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
16093 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
16094 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
16098 @node Directory Groups
16099 @subsection Directory Groups
16101 @cindex directory groups
16103 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
16104 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
16107 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
16108 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
16109 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
16110 back end to read directories. Big deal.
16112 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
16113 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
16114 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
16115 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
16116 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
16118 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
16120 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
16121 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
16122 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
16123 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
16126 @node Anything Groups
16127 @subsection Anything Groups
16130 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
16131 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
16132 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
16135 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
16136 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
16137 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
16138 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
16139 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
16140 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
16141 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
16142 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
16143 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
16144 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
16147 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
16148 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
16149 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
16150 in the article buffer, just as usual.
16152 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
16153 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
16154 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
16155 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
16157 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
16158 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
16159 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
16160 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
16161 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
16162 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
16163 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
16164 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
16169 @item nneething-map-file-directory
16170 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
16171 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
16172 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
16174 @item nneething-exclude-files
16175 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
16176 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
16177 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
16179 @item nneething-include-files
16180 @vindex nneething-include-files
16181 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
16182 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
16184 @item nneething-map-file
16185 @vindex nneething-map-file
16186 Name of the map files.
16190 @node Document Groups
16191 @subsection Document Groups
16193 @cindex documentation group
16196 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
16197 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
16204 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
16209 The standard Unix mbox file.
16211 @cindex MMDF mail box
16213 The MMDF mail box format.
16216 Several news articles appended into a file.
16219 @cindex rnews batch files
16220 The rnews batch transport format.
16221 @cindex forwarded messages
16224 Forwarded articles.
16227 Netscape mail boxes.
16230 @sc{mime} multipart messages.
16232 @item standard-digest
16233 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
16236 A @sc{mime} digest of messages.
16238 @item lanl-gov-announce
16239 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
16241 @item rfc822-forward
16242 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
16245 The Outlook mail box.
16248 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
16251 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
16254 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
16257 An RFC934-forwarded message.
16263 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
16266 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
16272 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
16273 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
16274 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
16277 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
16278 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
16279 group. And that's it.
16281 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
16282 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
16283 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
16284 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
16285 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
16286 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
16287 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
16288 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
16289 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
16290 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
16292 Virtual server variables:
16295 @item nndoc-article-type
16296 @vindex nndoc-article-type
16297 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
16298 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
16299 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
16300 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
16301 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
16303 @item nndoc-post-type
16304 @vindex nndoc-post-type
16305 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
16306 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
16311 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
16315 @node Document Server Internals
16316 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
16318 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
16319 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
16320 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
16321 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
16323 First, here's an example document type definition:
16327 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
16328 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
16331 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
16332 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
16333 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
16334 types can be defined with very few settings:
16337 @item first-article
16338 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
16339 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
16342 @item article-begin
16343 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
16344 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
16346 @item head-begin-function
16347 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
16350 @item nndoc-head-begin
16351 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
16354 @item nndoc-head-end
16355 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
16356 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
16358 @item body-begin-function
16359 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
16363 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
16366 @item body-end-function
16367 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
16371 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
16374 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
16375 regexp will be totally ignored.
16379 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
16380 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
16381 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
16382 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
16383 something that's palatable for Gnus:
16386 @item prepare-body-function
16387 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
16388 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
16389 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
16391 @item article-transform-function
16392 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
16393 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
16394 body of the article.
16396 @item generate-head-function
16397 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
16398 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
16399 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
16400 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
16404 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
16409 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16410 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16411 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
16412 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
16413 (head-end . "^ ?$")
16414 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
16415 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
16416 (subtype digest guess))
16419 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
16420 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
16421 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
16422 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
16423 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
16425 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
16426 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
16427 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
16428 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
16429 The alist is traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is
16430 called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is
16431 called to see whether a document is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on.
16432 These type predicates should return @code{nil} if the document is not
16433 of the correct type; @code{t} if it is of the correct type; and a
16434 number if the document might be of the correct type. A high number
16435 means high probability; a low number means low probability with
16436 @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
16444 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
16445 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
16446 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
16448 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
16449 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
16450 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
16453 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
16454 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
16455 that interested in doing things properly.
16457 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
16458 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
16461 First some terminology:
16466 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
16467 get news and/or mail from.
16470 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
16471 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
16474 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
16478 @item message packets
16479 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
16480 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
16481 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16483 @item response packets
16484 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
16485 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
16486 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16496 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
16497 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
16498 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
16499 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
16502 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
16505 You put the packet in your home directory.
16508 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
16509 the native or secondary server.
16512 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
16513 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
16516 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
16520 You transfer this packet to the server.
16523 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
16526 You then repeat until you die.
16530 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
16531 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
16534 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
16535 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
16536 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
16540 @node SOUP Commands
16541 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
16543 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
16547 @kindex G s b (Group)
16548 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
16549 Pack all unread articles in the current group
16550 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
16551 process/prefix convention.
16554 @kindex G s w (Group)
16555 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
16556 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
16559 @kindex G s s (Group)
16560 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
16561 Send all replies from the replies packet
16562 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
16565 @kindex G s p (Group)
16566 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
16567 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
16570 @kindex G s r (Group)
16571 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
16572 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
16575 @kindex O s (Summary)
16576 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
16577 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
16578 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
16579 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16584 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
16589 @item gnus-soup-directory
16590 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
16591 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
16592 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
16594 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
16595 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
16596 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
16597 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
16599 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
16600 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
16601 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
16602 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
16604 @item gnus-soup-packer
16605 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
16606 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16607 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
16609 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
16610 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
16611 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16612 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16614 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
16615 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
16616 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
16618 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16619 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16620 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
16621 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
16627 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
16630 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
16631 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
16632 you can read them at leisure.
16634 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
16638 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
16639 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
16640 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
16641 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
16643 @item nnsoup-directory
16644 @vindex nnsoup-directory
16645 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
16646 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
16648 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
16649 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
16650 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
16651 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/}.
16653 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
16654 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
16655 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
16656 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
16657 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
16659 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
16660 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
16661 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
16662 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
16664 @item nnsoup-active-file
16665 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
16666 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
16667 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
16668 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
16669 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
16671 @item nnsoup-packer
16672 @vindex nnsoup-packer
16673 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
16674 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
16676 @item nnsoup-unpacker
16677 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
16678 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
16679 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16681 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
16682 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
16683 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
16686 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
16687 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
16688 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
16691 @item nnsoup-always-save
16692 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
16693 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
16699 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
16701 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
16702 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
16703 more for that to happen.
16705 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
16706 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
16707 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
16710 In specific, this is what it does:
16713 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
16714 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
16717 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
16718 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
16719 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
16722 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
16723 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
16724 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
16727 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
16728 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
16729 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
16731 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
16737 @item nngateway-address
16738 @vindex nngateway-address
16739 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
16741 @item nngateway-header-transformation
16742 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
16743 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
16744 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
16745 transformation should be called, and defaults to
16746 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
16747 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
16750 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
16751 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
16752 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
16755 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
16758 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
16761 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
16764 The following pre-defined functions exist:
16766 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16769 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16770 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16771 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
16773 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16775 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16776 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16777 @code{nngateway-address}.
16782 (setq gnus-post-method
16784 "mail2news@@replay.com"
16785 (nngateway-header-transformation
16786 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
16794 So, to use this, simply say something like:
16797 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
16802 @node Combined Groups
16803 @section Combined Groups
16805 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
16809 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
16810 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
16814 @node Virtual Groups
16815 @subsection Virtual Groups
16817 @cindex virtual groups
16818 @cindex merging groups
16820 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
16823 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
16824 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
16825 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
16827 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
16828 regexp to match component groups.
16830 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
16831 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
16832 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
16833 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
16834 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
16835 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
16836 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
16837 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
16839 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
16840 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
16843 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
16846 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
16847 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
16849 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
16850 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
16851 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
16852 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
16855 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
16858 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
16859 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
16860 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
16862 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
16863 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
16864 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
16865 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
16866 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
16868 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
16869 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
16870 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
16872 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
16873 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
16874 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
16875 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
16876 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
16877 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
16878 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
16879 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
16880 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
16881 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
16882 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
16884 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
16885 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
16886 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
16887 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
16888 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
16889 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
16890 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
16892 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
16893 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
16895 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
16896 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
16900 @node Kibozed Groups
16901 @subsection Kibozed Groups
16905 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
16906 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
16907 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
16908 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
16910 @kindex G k (Group)
16911 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
16914 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
16915 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
16916 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
16917 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
16919 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
16920 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
16921 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
16923 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
16924 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
16925 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
16926 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
16927 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
16928 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
16929 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
16930 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
16932 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
16933 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
16934 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
16935 Stranger things have happened.
16937 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
16938 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
16940 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
16941 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
16942 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
16943 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
16944 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
16945 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
16947 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
16948 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
16951 @node Gnus Unplugged
16952 @section Gnus Unplugged
16957 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
16959 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
16960 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
16961 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
16962 read news. Believe it or not.
16964 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
16965 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
16966 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
16967 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
16968 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
16970 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
16971 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
16972 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
16973 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
16974 reading news on a machine.
16976 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
16977 fact, you don't even have to configure anything.
16979 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
16982 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
16983 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
16984 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
16985 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
16986 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
16987 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
16988 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
16989 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
16990 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
16991 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
16992 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
16993 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
16998 @subsection Agent Basics
17000 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
17002 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
17003 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
17004 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
17005 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
17007 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
17008 connected to the net continuously.
17010 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
17011 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
17013 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
17018 @findex gnus-unplugged
17019 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
17020 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
17021 already fetched while in this mode.
17024 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
17025 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
17026 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
17027 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
17028 Source Specifiers}).
17031 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
17032 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
17033 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
17034 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
17035 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
17038 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
17039 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
17040 then you read the news offline.
17043 And then you go to step 2.
17046 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
17052 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
17053 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
17054 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
17055 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
17056 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
17057 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
17058 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} groups in @code{gnus-select-method} and
17059 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
17063 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
17064 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
17065 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
17066 is probably best to start with a category @xref{Agent Categories}.
17068 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
17069 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
17070 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
17071 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
17072 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
17073 your policy, you can use grou parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
17077 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
17081 @node Agent Categories
17082 @subsection Agent Categories
17084 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
17085 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
17086 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
17087 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
17088 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
17089 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
17090 you're interested in the articles anyway.
17092 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
17093 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
17094 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
17095 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
17096 buffer for creating and managing categories.
17098 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
17099 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
17100 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
17101 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
17102 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
17105 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
17106 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
17107 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
17108 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
17109 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
17110 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
17114 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
17115 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
17116 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
17120 @node Category Syntax
17121 @subsubsection Category Syntax
17123 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
17124 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
17125 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
17129 @item gnus-agent-cat-name
17130 The name of the category.
17132 @item gnus-agent-cat-groups
17133 The list of groups that are in this category.
17135 @item gnus-agent-cat-predicate
17136 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
17137 are eligible for downloading; and
17139 @item gnus-agent-cat-score-file
17140 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
17141 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
17142 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
17144 @item gnus-agent-cat-enable-expiration
17145 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
17146 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
17147 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
17148 only groups that should not be expired.
17150 @item gnus-agent-cat-days-until-old
17151 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
17152 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
17154 @item gnus-agent-cat-low-score
17155 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
17157 @item gnus-agent-cat-high-score
17158 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
17160 @item gnus-agent-cat-length-when-short
17161 an integer that overrides the value of
17162 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
17164 @item gnus-agent-cat-length-when-long
17165 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
17168 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
17171 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
17172 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
17173 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
17176 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
17177 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
17178 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
17179 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
17181 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
17182 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
17183 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
17185 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
17186 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
17187 operators sprinkled in between.
17189 Perhaps some examples are in order.
17191 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
17192 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
17198 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
17199 short (for some value of ``short'').
17201 Here's a more complex predicate:
17210 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
17211 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
17214 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
17215 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
17216 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
17218 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
17219 you want to do, you can write your own.
17221 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
17222 bound to the value determined by calling
17223 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
17224 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
17225 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
17226 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
17227 predicate to individual groups.
17231 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
17232 lines; default 100.
17235 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
17236 lines; default 200.
17239 True iff the article has a download score less than
17240 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
17243 True iff the article has a download score greater than
17244 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
17247 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
17248 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
17249 checksum and sees whether articles match.
17258 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
17259 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
17260 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
17263 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
17264 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
17265 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
17266 something along the lines of the following:
17269 (defun my-article-old-p ()
17270 "Say whether an article is old."
17271 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
17272 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
17275 with the predicate then defined as:
17278 (not my-article-old-p)
17281 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
17282 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
17286 (require 'gnus-agent)
17287 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
17288 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
17289 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
17292 and simply specify your predicate as:
17298 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
17299 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
17300 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
17301 just don't give a damn.
17303 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
17304 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
17305 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
17306 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
17307 parameters like so:
17310 (agent-predicate . short)
17313 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
17314 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
17315 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
17317 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
17320 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
17323 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
17324 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
17325 predicate is assumed to be a list.
17328 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
17329 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
17330 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
17331 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
17332 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
17333 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
17335 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
17336 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
17337 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
17338 if it's to be specific to that group.
17340 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
17347 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
17348 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
17354 Category specification
17358 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17364 Group/Topic Parameter specification
17367 (agent-score ("from"
17368 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17373 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
17379 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
17380 keywords stated above.
17386 Category specification
17389 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
17395 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
17399 Group Parameter specification
17402 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
17405 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
17410 Use @code{normal} score files
17412 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
17413 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
17414 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
17415 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
17417 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
17418 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
17419 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
17420 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
17424 Category Specification
17431 Group Parameter specification
17434 (agent-score . file)
17439 @node Category Buffer
17440 @subsubsection Category Buffer
17442 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
17443 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
17444 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
17446 The following commands are available in this buffer:
17450 @kindex q (Category)
17451 @findex gnus-category-exit
17452 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
17455 @kindex e (Category)
17456 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
17457 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
17458 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
17461 @kindex k (Category)
17462 @findex gnus-category-kill
17463 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
17466 @kindex c (Category)
17467 @findex gnus-category-copy
17468 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
17471 @kindex a (Category)
17472 @findex gnus-category-add
17473 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
17476 @kindex p (Category)
17477 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
17478 Edit the predicate of the current category
17479 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
17482 @kindex g (Category)
17483 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
17484 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
17485 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
17488 @kindex s (Category)
17489 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
17490 Edit the download score rule of the current category
17491 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
17494 @kindex l (Category)
17495 @findex gnus-category-list
17496 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
17500 @node Category Variables
17501 @subsubsection Category Variables
17504 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
17505 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
17506 Hook run in category buffers.
17508 @item gnus-category-line-format
17509 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
17510 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
17511 Variables}). Valid elements are:
17515 The name of the category.
17518 The number of groups in the category.
17521 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
17522 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
17523 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
17525 @item gnus-agent-short-article
17526 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
17527 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
17529 @item gnus-agent-long-article
17530 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
17531 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
17533 @item gnus-agent-low-score
17534 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
17535 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
17538 @item gnus-agent-high-score
17539 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
17540 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
17543 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
17544 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
17545 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
17546 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
17547 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
17548 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
17549 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
17550 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
17554 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
17555 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
17556 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
17557 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
17558 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
17559 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
17560 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
17565 @node Agent Commands
17566 @subsection Agent Commands
17567 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
17568 @kindex J j (Agent)
17570 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
17571 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
17572 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
17576 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
17577 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
17578 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
17584 @node Group Agent Commands
17585 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
17589 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
17590 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
17591 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
17592 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
17595 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
17596 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
17597 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
17600 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
17601 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
17602 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
17603 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
17606 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
17607 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
17608 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
17609 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
17612 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
17613 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
17614 Add the current group to an Agent category
17615 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
17616 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17619 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
17620 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
17621 Remove the current group from its category, if any
17622 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
17623 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17626 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
17627 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17628 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
17634 @node Summary Agent Commands
17635 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
17639 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
17640 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
17641 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
17644 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
17645 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
17646 Remove the downloading mark from the article
17647 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
17651 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
17652 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
17653 Toggle whether to download the article
17654 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The dowload mark is @samp{%} by
17658 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
17659 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
17660 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
17663 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
17664 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
17665 Download all eligible (See @pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
17666 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
17669 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
17670 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-series
17671 Download all processable articles in this group.
17672 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-series}).
17675 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
17676 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
17677 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
17678 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
17683 @node Server Agent Commands
17684 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
17688 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
17689 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
17690 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
17691 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
17694 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
17695 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
17696 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
17697 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
17702 @node Agent as Cache
17703 @subsection Agent as Cache
17705 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
17706 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
17707 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
17708 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
17709 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
17710 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
17711 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
17712 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
17713 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
17715 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
17716 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
17717 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
17718 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
17719 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap backend.
17722 @subsection Agent Expiry
17724 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
17725 @findex gnus-agent-expire
17726 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
17727 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
17728 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
17729 @cindex Agent expiry
17730 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
17733 The Agent backend, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
17734 least it doesn't handle it like other backends. Instead, there are
17735 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
17736 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
17737 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
17738 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
17739 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
17740 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
17742 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
17743 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
17744 synchronized with the group.
17746 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
17747 prevent expiration in selected groups.
17749 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
17750 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
17751 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
17752 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
17753 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
17754 be kept indefinitely.
17756 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
17757 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
17758 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
17759 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
17761 @node Agent Regeneration
17762 @subsection Agent Regeneration
17764 @cindex Agent Regeneration
17765 @cindex Gnus Agent Regeneration
17766 @cindex regeneration
17768 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
17769 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
17770 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
17771 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
17772 internal inconsistencies.
17774 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
17775 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
17776 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
17777 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
17778 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
17779 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
17781 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
17782 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
17783 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
17784 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
17785 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
17786 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
17788 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
17789 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
17790 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
17791 of individual articles to repair the local NOV(header) database. It
17792 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
17793 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
17796 @node Agent and IMAP
17797 @subsection Agent and IMAP
17799 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
17800 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
17801 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
17802 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
17804 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
17805 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @file{.newsrc} as is the
17806 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
17807 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
17809 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
17810 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
17811 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
17812 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
17814 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17815 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
17816 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
17817 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
17818 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
17819 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
17821 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
17822 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
17823 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
17824 in the group buffer.
17826 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
17827 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
17832 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
17835 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
17839 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
17840 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
17841 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
17842 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
17843 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
17844 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
17845 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
17846 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
17849 @node Outgoing Messages
17850 @subsection Outgoing Messages
17852 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
17853 stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view
17854 them there after posting, and edit them at will.
17856 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
17857 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
17858 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
17859 messages in the draft group.
17863 @node Agent Variables
17864 @subsection Agent Variables
17867 @item gnus-agent-directory
17868 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
17869 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
17870 @file{~/News/agent/}.
17872 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
17873 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
17874 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
17875 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
17876 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
17879 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
17880 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
17881 Hook run when connecting to the network.
17883 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
17884 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
17885 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
17887 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
17888 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
17889 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
17891 @item gnus-agent-cache
17892 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
17893 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @sc{nov} and
17894 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
17895 The default is non-nil, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
17897 @item gnus-agent-go-online
17898 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
17899 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
17900 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
17901 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
17902 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
17903 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
17906 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
17907 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
17908 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
17909 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
17910 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
17911 read. The default is t.
17913 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
17914 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
17915 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
17916 agent will fetch all missing headers. When @code{nil}, the agent will
17917 fetch only new headers. The default is @code{nil}.
17919 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
17920 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
17921 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
17922 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
17923 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
17924 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
17925 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
17926 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
17927 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
17928 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
17929 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
17930 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
17933 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
17934 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
17935 Perhaps not a Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
17936 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
17937 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
17938 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
17939 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
17940 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
17941 is only valid if the Agent is used.
17943 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
17944 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
17945 Another variable that isn't a Agent variable, yet so closely related
17946 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
17947 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
17948 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
17950 The legal values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
17951 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
17952 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
17953 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
17954 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
17959 @node Example Setup
17960 @subsection Example Setup
17962 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
17963 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
17964 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
17967 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
17968 ;;; from your ISP's server.
17969 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
17971 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
17972 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
17973 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
17975 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
17976 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
17978 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
17979 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; The obsolete setting.
17980 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; Now the default.
17983 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
17984 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
17987 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
17988 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
17989 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
17990 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
17991 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
17994 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
17995 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
17996 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
17997 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
17998 back all the killed groups.)
18000 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
18001 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
18002 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
18005 @node Batching Agents
18006 @subsection Batching Agents
18007 @findex gnus-agent-batch
18009 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
18010 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
18011 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
18013 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
18014 following incantation:
18018 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f -l ~/.gnus.el gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
18022 @node Agent Caveats
18023 @subsection Agent Caveats
18025 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
18026 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
18030 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
18032 @strong{No}. If you want this behaviour, add
18033 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
18034 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
18036 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
18037 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
18039 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
18043 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
18044 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
18045 locally stored articles.
18052 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
18053 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
18054 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
18057 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
18058 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
18059 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
18060 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
18061 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
18063 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
18064 before generating the summary buffer.
18066 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
18067 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
18068 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
18070 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
18071 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
18072 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
18073 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
18076 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
18077 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
18078 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
18079 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
18080 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
18081 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
18082 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
18083 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
18084 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
18085 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
18086 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
18087 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
18088 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
18089 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
18090 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
18091 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
18092 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
18096 @node Summary Score Commands
18097 @section Summary Score Commands
18098 @cindex score commands
18100 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
18101 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
18102 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
18103 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
18104 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
18106 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
18107 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
18108 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
18109 score file the current one.
18111 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
18116 @kindex V s (Summary)
18117 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
18118 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
18121 @kindex V S (Summary)
18122 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
18123 Display the score of the current article
18124 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
18127 @kindex V t (Summary)
18128 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
18129 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
18130 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
18133 @kindex V w (Summary)
18134 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
18135 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
18138 @kindex V R (Summary)
18139 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
18140 Run the current summary through the scoring process
18141 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
18142 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
18143 effect you're having.
18146 @kindex V c (Summary)
18147 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
18148 Make a different score file the current
18149 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
18152 @kindex V e (Summary)
18153 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
18154 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
18155 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
18159 @kindex V f (Summary)
18160 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
18161 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
18162 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
18165 @kindex V F (Summary)
18166 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18167 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
18168 after editing score files.
18171 @kindex V C (Summary)
18172 @findex gnus-score-customize
18173 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
18174 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
18178 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
18183 @kindex V m (Summary)
18184 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
18185 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
18186 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
18189 @kindex V x (Summary)
18190 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
18191 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
18192 expunge all articles below this score
18193 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
18196 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
18197 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
18200 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
18201 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
18205 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
18206 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
18208 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
18209 keys are available:
18213 Score on the author name.
18216 Score on the subject line.
18219 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
18222 Score on the @code{References} line.
18228 Score on the number of lines.
18231 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
18234 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
18235 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
18238 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
18239 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
18240 @file{ADAPT} files.)
18249 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
18255 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
18256 what headers you are scoring on.
18268 Substring matching.
18271 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
18300 Greater than number.
18305 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
18306 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
18307 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
18312 Temporary score entry.
18315 Permanent score entry.
18318 Immediately scoring.
18322 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
18323 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
18324 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
18328 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
18329 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
18330 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
18331 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
18333 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
18334 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
18335 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
18336 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
18337 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
18339 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
18340 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
18341 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
18342 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
18343 current score file.
18345 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
18346 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
18347 pretend they are keymaps or not.
18350 @node Group Score Commands
18351 @section Group Score Commands
18352 @cindex group score commands
18354 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
18359 @kindex W f (Group)
18360 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18361 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
18362 all the time. This command will flush the cache
18363 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
18367 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
18369 @findex gnus-batch-score
18370 @cindex batch scoring
18372 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
18376 @node Score Variables
18377 @section Score Variables
18378 @cindex score variables
18382 @item gnus-use-scoring
18383 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
18384 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
18385 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
18387 @item gnus-kill-killed
18388 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
18389 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
18390 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
18391 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
18392 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
18393 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
18394 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
18396 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
18397 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
18398 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
18399 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
18400 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
18402 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
18403 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
18404 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
18405 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
18407 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
18408 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
18409 @cindex score cache
18410 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
18411 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
18412 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
18413 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
18414 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
18415 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
18416 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
18419 @item gnus-save-score
18420 @vindex gnus-save-score
18421 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
18422 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
18423 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
18425 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
18426 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
18427 across group visits.
18429 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
18430 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
18431 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
18432 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
18433 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
18434 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
18435 manually entered data.
18437 @item gnus-summary-default-score
18438 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
18439 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
18441 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
18442 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
18443 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
18444 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
18445 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
18446 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
18448 @item gnus-score-over-mark
18449 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
18450 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
18451 default. Default is @samp{+}.
18453 @item gnus-score-below-mark
18454 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
18455 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
18456 default. Default is @samp{-}.
18458 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
18459 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
18460 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
18461 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
18463 Predefined functions available are:
18466 @item gnus-score-find-single
18467 @findex gnus-score-find-single
18468 Only apply the group's own score file.
18470 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
18471 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
18472 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
18473 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
18474 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
18475 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
18476 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
18477 then a regexp match is done.
18479 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
18480 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
18482 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
18483 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
18484 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
18485 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
18487 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
18488 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
18489 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
18490 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
18491 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
18495 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
18496 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
18497 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
18498 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
18499 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
18500 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
18501 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
18504 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
18505 overall score file, you could use the value
18507 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
18508 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
18511 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
18512 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
18513 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
18514 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
18515 are expired. It's 7 by default.
18517 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
18518 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
18519 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
18520 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
18521 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
18522 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
18523 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
18524 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
18526 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
18527 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
18528 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
18530 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
18531 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
18532 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
18533 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
18534 threading---according to the current value of
18535 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
18536 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
18537 simplified in this manner.
18542 @node Score File Format
18543 @section Score File Format
18544 @cindex score file format
18546 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
18547 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
18548 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
18550 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
18554 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
18556 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
18558 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
18560 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
18565 (mark-and-expunge -10)
18569 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
18570 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
18571 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
18572 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
18576 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
18577 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
18579 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
18580 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
18581 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
18583 Six keys are supported by this alist:
18588 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
18589 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
18590 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
18591 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
18592 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
18593 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
18594 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
18595 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
18596 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
18597 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
18598 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
18599 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
18600 to articles that matches these score entries.
18602 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
18603 score entry has one to four elements.
18607 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
18608 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
18612 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
18613 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
18614 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
18615 is successful. If this element is not present, the
18616 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
18617 instead. This is 1000 by default.
18620 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
18621 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
18622 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
18623 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
18624 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
18627 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
18628 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
18629 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
18630 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
18633 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
18634 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
18635 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
18636 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
18637 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
18638 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
18639 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
18640 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
18641 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
18642 instead, if you feel like.
18645 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
18646 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
18647 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
18648 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
18649 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin host,
18650 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks NNTP-Posting-Host in overviews:
18653 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s "NNTP-Posting-Host")
18657 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
18658 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
18660 These predicates are true if
18663 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
18666 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
18667 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
18674 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
18675 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
18676 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
18677 it's not. I think.)
18679 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
18680 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
18681 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
18682 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
18685 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
18686 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
18687 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
18688 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
18689 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
18690 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
18691 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
18695 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
18696 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
18697 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
18698 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
18699 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
18700 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
18701 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
18702 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
18705 @item Head, Body, All
18706 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
18710 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
18711 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
18712 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
18713 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
18714 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
18715 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
18716 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
18720 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
18721 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
18722 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
18723 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
18724 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
18725 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
18726 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
18727 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
18728 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
18729 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
18730 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
18734 @cindex Score File Atoms
18736 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18737 lower than this number will be marked as read.
18740 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18741 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
18743 @item mark-and-expunge
18744 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18745 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
18748 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
18749 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
18750 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
18751 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
18752 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
18755 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
18756 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
18759 @item exclude-files
18760 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
18761 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
18765 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
18766 ignored when handling global score files.
18769 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
18770 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
18771 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
18772 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
18775 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
18776 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
18777 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
18778 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
18780 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
18784 (mark-and-expunge -100)
18787 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
18788 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
18789 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
18790 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
18791 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
18793 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
18794 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
18795 scoring rules exist.
18798 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
18799 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
18800 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
18801 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
18802 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
18803 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
18804 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
18805 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
18806 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
18807 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
18808 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
18812 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
18813 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
18814 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
18815 file for a number of groups.
18818 @cindex local variables
18819 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
18820 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
18821 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
18822 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
18823 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
18828 @node Score File Editing
18829 @section Score File Editing
18831 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
18832 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
18833 with a mode for that.
18835 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
18836 additional commands:
18841 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
18842 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
18843 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
18844 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
18847 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
18848 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
18849 Insert the current date in numerical format
18850 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
18851 you were wondering.
18854 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
18855 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
18856 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
18857 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
18858 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
18863 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
18865 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
18866 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
18868 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
18869 e} to begin editing score files.
18872 @node Adaptive Scoring
18873 @section Adaptive Scoring
18874 @cindex adaptive scoring
18876 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
18877 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
18878 stupidity, to be precise.
18880 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
18881 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
18882 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
18883 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
18884 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
18885 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
18886 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
18887 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
18888 variable to @code{(word line)}.
18890 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
18891 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
18892 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
18893 might look something like this:
18896 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
18897 '((gnus-unread-mark)
18898 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
18899 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
18900 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
18901 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
18902 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
18903 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
18904 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
18905 (gnus-ancient-mark)
18906 (gnus-low-score-mark)
18907 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
18910 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
18911 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
18912 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
18913 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
18914 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
18915 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
18918 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
18919 will be applied to each article.
18921 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
18922 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
18923 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
18924 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
18926 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
18927 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
18928 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
18929 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
18931 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
18932 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
18933 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
18934 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
18936 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
18937 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
18938 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
18939 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
18940 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
18941 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
18943 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
18944 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
18945 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
18947 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
18948 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
18949 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
18951 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
18952 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
18953 let you use different rules in different groups.
18955 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
18956 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
18957 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
18960 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
18961 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
18962 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
18963 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
18964 the length of the match is less than
18965 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
18966 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
18969 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18970 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
18971 headers. If you adapt on words, the
18972 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
18973 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
18976 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18977 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
18978 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
18979 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
18980 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
18983 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
18984 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
18985 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
18986 score with 30 points.
18988 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
18989 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
18990 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
18991 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
18992 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
18994 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
18995 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
18996 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
18997 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
18998 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
19000 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
19001 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
19002 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
19003 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
19005 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
19006 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
19007 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
19008 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
19010 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
19011 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
19012 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
19013 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
19014 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
19016 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
19017 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
19018 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
19020 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
19021 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
19022 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
19023 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
19026 @node Home Score File
19027 @section Home Score File
19029 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
19030 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
19031 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
19032 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
19034 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
19035 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
19036 could perhaps use the same home score file.
19038 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
19039 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
19044 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
19048 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
19049 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
19053 A list. The elements in this list can be:
19057 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
19058 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
19061 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
19062 the home score file.
19065 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
19068 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
19073 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
19076 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19077 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
19080 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
19081 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
19083 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
19085 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19086 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
19089 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
19090 Other functions include
19093 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
19094 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
19095 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
19096 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
19100 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
19101 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
19102 their own home score files:
19105 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19106 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
19107 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
19108 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
19109 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
19112 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
19113 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
19114 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
19115 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
19116 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
19118 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
19119 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
19120 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
19121 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
19122 precedence over this variable.
19125 @node Followups To Yourself
19126 @section Followups To Yourself
19128 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
19129 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
19130 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
19131 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
19132 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
19133 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
19137 @item gnus-score-followup-article
19138 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
19139 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
19142 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
19143 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
19144 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
19148 @vindex message-sent-hook
19149 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
19150 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
19152 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
19156 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
19157 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
19161 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19162 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19165 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
19166 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
19171 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
19175 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
19176 is system-dependent.
19179 @node Scoring On Other Headers
19180 @section Scoring On Other Headers
19181 @cindex scoring on other headers
19183 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
19184 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
19185 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
19186 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
19187 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
19189 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
19190 mail groups, you have greater control. In the @pxref{To From
19191 Newsgroups} section of the manual, it's explained in greater detail what
19192 this mechanism does, but here's a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on
19193 how to allow scoring on the @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
19195 Put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
19198 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
19199 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
19202 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
19203 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
19204 time if you have much mail.
19206 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
19207 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
19213 @section Scoring Tips
19214 @cindex scoring tips
19220 @cindex scoring crossposts
19221 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
19222 the @code{Xref} header.
19224 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
19227 @item Multiple crossposts
19228 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
19229 more than, say, 3 groups:
19232 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
19236 @item Matching on the body
19237 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
19238 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
19239 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
19240 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
19241 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
19242 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
19243 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
19246 @item Marking as read
19247 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
19248 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
19249 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
19253 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
19255 @item Negated character classes
19256 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
19257 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
19258 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
19262 @node Reverse Scoring
19263 @section Reverse Scoring
19264 @cindex reverse scoring
19266 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
19267 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
19268 like this in your score file:
19272 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
19277 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
19278 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
19281 @node Global Score Files
19282 @section Global Score Files
19283 @cindex global score files
19285 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
19286 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
19287 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
19289 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
19290 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
19291 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
19293 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
19294 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
19295 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
19296 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
19297 files are applicable to which group.
19299 To use the score file
19300 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
19301 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
19305 (setq gnus-global-score-files
19306 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
19307 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
19310 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
19312 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
19313 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
19314 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
19315 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
19317 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
19318 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
19320 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
19321 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
19322 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
19323 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
19324 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
19325 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
19327 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
19333 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
19335 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
19337 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
19339 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
19340 lowered out of existence.
19342 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
19343 articles completely.
19346 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
19347 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
19348 old articles for a long time.
19351 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
19352 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
19353 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
19354 holding our breath yet?
19358 @section Kill Files
19361 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
19362 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
19363 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
19365 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
19366 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
19367 files into score files.
19369 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
19370 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
19371 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
19372 that isn't a very good idea.
19374 Normal kill files look like this:
19377 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19378 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
19382 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
19383 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
19385 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
19386 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
19389 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
19394 @kindex M-k (Summary)
19395 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
19396 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
19399 @kindex M-K (Summary)
19400 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
19401 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
19404 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
19409 @kindex M-k (Group)
19410 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
19411 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
19414 @kindex M-K (Group)
19415 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
19416 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
19419 Kill file variables:
19422 @item gnus-kill-file-name
19423 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
19424 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
19425 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
19426 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
19427 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
19428 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
19430 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
19431 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
19432 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
19433 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
19436 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
19437 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
19438 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
19439 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
19440 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
19441 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
19442 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
19443 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
19444 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
19446 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
19447 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
19448 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
19453 @node Converting Kill Files
19454 @section Converting Kill Files
19456 @cindex converting kill files
19458 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
19459 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
19460 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
19463 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
19464 You can fetch it from
19465 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
19467 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
19468 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
19469 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
19477 GroupLens (@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/}) is a
19478 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
19479 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
19480 news articles generated every day.
19482 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
19483 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
19484 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
19485 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
19486 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
19487 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
19488 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
19489 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
19492 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
19493 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
19496 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
19497 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
19498 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
19499 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
19503 @node Using GroupLens
19504 @subsection Using GroupLens
19506 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
19508 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
19509 better bit in town at the moment.
19511 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
19515 @item gnus-use-grouplens
19516 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
19517 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
19518 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
19520 @item grouplens-pseudonym
19521 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
19522 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
19523 with the Better Bit Bureau.
19525 @item grouplens-newsgroups
19526 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
19527 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
19531 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
19532 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
19533 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
19534 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
19535 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
19536 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
19539 @node Rating Articles
19540 @subsection Rating Articles
19542 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
19543 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
19544 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
19545 yourself is, ``on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
19548 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
19553 @kindex r (GroupLens)
19554 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
19555 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
19558 @kindex k (GroupLens)
19559 @findex grouplens-score-thread
19560 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
19561 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
19562 threads in rec.humor.
19566 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
19567 the score of the article you're reading.
19572 @kindex n (GroupLens)
19573 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
19574 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
19577 @kindex , (GroupLens)
19578 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
19579 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
19583 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
19584 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
19587 @node Displaying Predictions
19588 @subsection Displaying Predictions
19590 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
19591 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
19592 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
19593 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
19594 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
19596 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
19597 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
19598 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
19599 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
19600 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
19601 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
19602 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
19603 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
19604 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
19605 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
19606 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
19607 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
19608 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
19610 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
19611 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
19612 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
19613 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
19615 The following are valid values for that variable.
19618 @item prediction-spot
19619 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
19622 @item confidence-interval
19623 A numeric confidence interval.
19625 @item prediction-bar
19626 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
19628 @item confidence-bar
19629 Numerical confidence.
19631 @item confidence-spot
19632 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
19634 @item prediction-num
19635 Plain-old numeric value.
19637 @item confidence-plus-minus
19638 Prediction +/- confidence.
19643 @node GroupLens Variables
19644 @subsection GroupLens Variables
19648 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
19649 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
19650 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
19651 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
19654 @item grouplens-bbb-host
19655 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
19658 @item grouplens-bbb-port
19659 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
19661 @item grouplens-score-offset
19662 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
19663 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
19666 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
19667 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
19668 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
19673 @node Advanced Scoring
19674 @section Advanced Scoring
19676 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
19677 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
19678 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
19679 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
19680 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
19682 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
19686 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
19687 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
19688 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
19692 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
19693 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
19695 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
19696 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
19697 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
19698 non-@code{nil} value.
19700 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
19701 operator, and various match operators.
19708 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
19709 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
19710 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
19715 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
19716 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
19717 then this operator will return @code{false}.
19722 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
19723 logical negation of the value of its argument.
19727 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
19728 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
19729 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
19730 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
19731 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
19732 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
19733 the ancestry you want to go.
19735 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
19736 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
19737 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
19738 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
19739 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
19742 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
19743 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
19745 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
19746 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
19749 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
19750 when he's talking about Gnus:
19754 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19755 ("subject" "Gnus"))
19761 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
19765 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19772 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
19773 really don't want to read what he's written:
19777 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19778 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
19782 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
19783 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
19784 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
19791 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
19792 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
19793 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
19794 ("body" "white.*socks"))
19798 The possibilities are endless.
19801 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
19802 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
19804 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
19805 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
19806 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
19807 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
19808 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
19809 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
19810 @samp{subject}) first.
19812 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
19813 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
19824 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
19825 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
19831 ("subject" "Gnus")))
19838 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
19839 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
19844 @section Score Decays
19845 @cindex score decays
19848 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
19849 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
19850 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
19851 use them in any sensible way.
19853 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
19854 @findex gnus-decay-score
19855 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
19856 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
19857 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
19858 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
19859 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
19860 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
19861 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
19862 definition of that function:
19865 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
19867 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
19868 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
19871 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
19873 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
19875 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
19878 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
19879 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
19880 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
19881 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
19885 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
19888 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
19891 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
19895 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
19896 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
19897 the new score, which should be an integer.
19899 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
19900 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
19905 @include message.texi
19906 @chapter Emacs MIME
19907 @include emacs-mime.texi
19909 @include sieve.texi
19911 @c @include pgg.texi
19919 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
19920 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
19921 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
19922 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
19923 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
19924 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
19925 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
19926 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
19927 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
19928 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
19929 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
19930 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
19931 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
19932 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
19933 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
19934 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
19935 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
19936 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
19937 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
19941 @node Process/Prefix
19942 @section Process/Prefix
19943 @cindex process/prefix convention
19945 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
19946 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
19948 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
19949 command to be performed on.
19953 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
19954 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
19955 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
19956 with the current one.
19958 @vindex transient-mark-mode
19959 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
19960 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
19962 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
19963 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
19966 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
19967 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
19969 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
19972 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
19973 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
19974 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
19975 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
19977 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
19978 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
19979 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
19980 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
19981 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
19982 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
19983 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
19984 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
19986 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
19987 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
19988 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
19989 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
19990 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
19994 @section Interactive
19995 @cindex interaction
19999 @item gnus-novice-user
20000 @vindex gnus-novice-user
20001 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
20002 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
20003 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
20004 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
20007 @item gnus-expert-user
20008 @vindex gnus-expert-user
20009 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
20010 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
20011 matter how strange.
20013 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
20014 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
20015 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
20016 is @code{t} by default.
20018 @item gnus-interactive-exit
20019 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
20020 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20025 @node Symbolic Prefixes
20026 @section Symbolic Prefixes
20027 @cindex symbolic prefixes
20029 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
20030 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
20031 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
20032 rule of 900 to the current article.
20034 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
20035 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
20036 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
20037 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
20038 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
20039 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
20040 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
20042 @kindex M-i (Summary)
20043 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
20044 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
20045 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
20046 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
20047 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
20048 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
20049 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
20050 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
20052 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
20053 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
20054 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
20056 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
20060 @node Formatting Variables
20061 @section Formatting Variables
20062 @cindex formatting variables
20064 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
20065 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
20066 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
20067 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
20068 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
20071 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
20072 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
20073 lots of percentages everywhere.
20076 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
20077 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
20078 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
20079 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
20080 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
20081 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
20082 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
20083 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
20086 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
20087 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
20088 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
20089 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
20090 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
20091 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
20092 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
20093 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
20095 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
20096 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
20098 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
20099 @findex gnus-update-format
20100 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
20101 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
20102 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
20103 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
20107 @node Formatting Basics
20108 @subsection Formatting Basics
20110 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
20111 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
20112 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
20114 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
20115 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
20116 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
20117 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
20118 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
20121 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
20122 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
20123 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
20124 less than 4 characters wide.
20126 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
20127 @samp{%&user-date;}.
20130 @node Mode Line Formatting
20131 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
20133 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
20134 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
20135 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
20136 with the following two differences:
20141 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
20144 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
20145 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
20146 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
20147 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
20148 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
20149 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
20150 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
20155 @node Advanced Formatting
20156 @subsection Advanced Formatting
20158 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
20159 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
20160 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
20161 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
20163 These are the valid modifiers:
20168 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
20172 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
20177 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
20180 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
20185 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
20188 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
20191 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
20194 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
20200 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
20205 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
20206 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
20207 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
20208 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
20209 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
20210 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
20211 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
20213 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
20214 last operation, padding.
20216 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
20217 If @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} is set to @code{nil} (@code{t} by
20218 default) with your strong personality, and use a lots of these advanced
20219 thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets quite slow. This can be helped
20220 enormously by running @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with
20221 the look of your lines.
20222 @xref{Compilation}.
20225 @node User-Defined Specs
20226 @subsection User-Defined Specs
20228 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
20229 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
20230 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
20231 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
20232 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
20233 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
20234 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
20235 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
20236 should protect against that.
20238 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
20239 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
20241 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
20242 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
20243 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
20244 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
20248 @node Formatting Fonts
20249 @subsection Formatting Fonts
20251 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
20252 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
20253 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
20254 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
20257 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
20258 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
20259 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
20260 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
20261 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
20262 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
20264 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
20265 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
20266 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
20267 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
20268 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
20269 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
20270 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
20271 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
20272 (in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
20273 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
20274 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
20277 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
20280 ;; Create three face types.
20281 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
20282 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
20284 ;; We want the article count to be in
20285 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
20286 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
20287 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
20289 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
20290 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
20292 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
20293 (setq gnus-group-line-format
20294 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
20297 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
20298 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
20300 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
20301 mode-line variables.
20303 @node Positioning Point
20304 @subsection Positioning Point
20306 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
20307 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
20308 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
20310 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
20312 @findex gnus-goto-colon
20313 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
20314 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
20316 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
20317 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
20318 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
20323 @subsection Tabulation
20325 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
20326 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
20327 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
20328 about lining up the following text afterwards.
20330 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs--@samp{%=}. There are two
20331 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
20333 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20334 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
20335 This is the soft tabulator.
20337 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20338 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
20339 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
20342 @node Wide Characters
20343 @subsection Wide Characters
20345 Proportional fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
20346 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
20347 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
20349 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
20350 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
20351 these countries, that's not true.
20353 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
20354 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
20355 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
20356 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
20360 @node Window Layout
20361 @section Window Layout
20362 @cindex window layout
20364 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
20366 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
20367 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
20368 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
20369 @code{t} by default.
20371 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
20372 glitches. Use at your own peril.
20374 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
20375 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
20376 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
20379 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
20380 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
20381 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20385 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
20386 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
20387 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
20388 possible names is listed below.
20390 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
20391 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
20394 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20398 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
20399 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
20400 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
20401 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
20402 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
20403 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
20404 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
20405 size spec per split.
20407 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
20408 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
20409 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
20410 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
20411 present) gets focus.
20413 Here's a more complicated example:
20416 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
20417 (summary 0.25 point)
20418 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
20422 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
20423 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
20424 occupy, not a percentage.
20426 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
20427 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
20428 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
20429 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
20430 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
20433 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
20436 (article (horizontal 1.0
20441 (summary 0.25 point)
20446 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
20447 @code{horizontal} thingie?
20449 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
20450 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
20451 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
20452 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
20453 the screen is to be given to this strip.
20455 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
20456 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
20457 lines from the splits.
20459 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
20463 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
20464 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
20465 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
20466 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
20467 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
20468 size = number | frame-params
20469 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
20472 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
20473 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
20474 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
20475 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
20477 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
20478 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
20479 @cindex window height
20480 @cindex window width
20481 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
20482 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
20483 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
20484 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
20485 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
20486 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
20488 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
20489 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
20490 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
20491 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
20493 @findex gnus-configure-frame
20494 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
20495 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
20496 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
20497 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
20498 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
20499 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
20500 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
20501 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
20502 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
20503 configuration list.
20506 (gnus-configure-frame
20510 (article 0.3 point))
20518 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
20519 @code{frame} split:
20522 (gnus-configure-frame
20525 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
20527 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
20528 (user-position . t)
20529 (left . -1) (top . 1))
20534 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
20535 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
20536 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
20537 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
20538 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
20539 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
20540 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
20541 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
20543 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
20544 be found in its default value.
20546 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
20547 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
20548 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
20552 (message (horizontal 1.0
20553 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
20555 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
20560 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
20561 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
20562 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
20567 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
20568 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
20569 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
20570 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
20571 (name . "Message"))
20572 (message 1.0 point))))
20575 @findex gnus-add-configuration
20576 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
20577 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
20578 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
20579 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
20582 (gnus-add-configuration
20583 '(article (vertical 1.0
20585 (summary .25 point)
20589 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
20590 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
20591 Gnus has been loaded.
20593 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
20594 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
20595 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
20596 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
20597 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
20599 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
20600 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
20601 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
20604 @subsection Example Window Configurations
20608 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
20609 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
20624 (gnus-add-configuration
20627 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
20629 (summary 0.16 point)
20632 (gnus-add-configuration
20635 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
20636 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
20642 @node Faces and Fonts
20643 @section Faces and Fonts
20648 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
20649 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
20650 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
20655 @section Compilation
20656 @cindex compilation
20657 @cindex byte-compilation
20659 @findex gnus-compile
20661 Remember all those line format specification variables?
20662 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
20663 on. By default, T-gnus will use the byte-compiled codes of these
20664 variables and we can keep a slow-down to a minimum. However, if you set
20665 @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} to @code{nil} (@code{t} by default),
20666 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
20667 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
20668 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
20671 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
20672 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
20673 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
20674 you'll get top speed again. Note that T-gnus will not save these
20675 compiled specs in the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
20678 @item gnus-compile-user-specs
20679 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
20680 If it is non-nil, the user-defined format specs will be byte-compiled
20681 automatically. The default value of this variable is @code{t}. It has
20682 an effect on the values of @code{gnus-*-line-format-spec}.
20687 @section Mode Lines
20690 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
20691 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
20692 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
20693 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
20694 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
20695 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
20696 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
20699 @cindex display-time
20701 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
20702 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
20703 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
20704 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
20705 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
20706 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
20707 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
20708 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
20711 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
20713 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
20714 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
20716 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
20717 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
20718 (length display-time-string)))))
20721 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
20722 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
20723 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
20724 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
20725 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
20728 @node Highlighting and Menus
20729 @section Highlighting and Menus
20731 @cindex highlighting
20734 @vindex gnus-visual
20735 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
20736 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
20737 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
20740 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
20741 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
20744 @item group-highlight
20745 Do highlights in the group buffer.
20746 @item summary-highlight
20747 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
20748 @item article-highlight
20749 Do highlights in the article buffer.
20751 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
20753 Create menus in the group buffer.
20755 Create menus in the summary buffers.
20757 Create menus in the article buffer.
20759 Create menus in the browse buffer.
20761 Create menus in the server buffer.
20763 Create menus in the score buffers.
20765 Create menus in all buffers.
20768 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
20769 buffers, you could say something like:
20772 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
20775 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
20778 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
20781 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
20782 in all Gnus buffers.
20784 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
20787 @item gnus-mouse-face
20788 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
20789 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
20790 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
20794 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
20798 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
20799 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
20800 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
20802 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
20803 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
20804 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
20806 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
20807 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
20808 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
20810 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
20811 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
20812 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
20814 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
20815 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
20816 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
20818 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
20819 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
20820 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
20831 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
20832 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
20833 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
20834 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
20835 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
20839 @vindex gnus-carpal
20840 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
20841 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
20842 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
20847 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
20848 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
20849 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
20851 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
20852 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
20853 Face used on buttons.
20855 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
20856 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
20857 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
20859 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
20860 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
20861 Buttons in the group buffer.
20863 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
20864 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
20865 Buttons in the summary buffer.
20867 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
20868 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
20869 Buttons in the server buffer.
20871 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
20872 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
20873 Buttons in the browse buffer.
20876 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
20877 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
20878 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
20886 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
20887 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
20888 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
20889 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
20890 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
20892 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
20893 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
20894 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
20896 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
20897 been idle for thirty minutes:
20900 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
20903 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
20907 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
20910 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
20911 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
20912 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
20914 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
20915 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
20916 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
20917 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
20919 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
20920 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
20921 @var{idle} minutes.
20923 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
20924 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
20927 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
20928 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
20929 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
20931 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
20932 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
20933 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
20934 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
20936 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
20937 your @file{.gnus.el} file:
20939 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
20941 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
20944 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
20945 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
20946 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
20947 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
20948 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
20949 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
20950 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
20951 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
20952 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
20953 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
20954 @file{.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
20956 @findex gnus-demon-init
20957 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
20958 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
20959 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
20960 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
20961 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
20963 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
20964 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
20965 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
20974 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
20975 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
20977 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
20978 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
20979 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
20980 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
20983 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
20984 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
20985 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
20986 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
20988 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
20989 this will make spam disappear.
20991 There are some variables to customize, of course:
20994 @item gnus-use-nocem
20995 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
20996 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
20999 @item gnus-nocem-groups
21000 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
21001 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
21002 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
21003 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
21005 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
21006 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
21007 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
21008 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
21009 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
21010 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
21012 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
21013 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
21015 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
21016 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
21017 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
21018 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
21019 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
21020 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
21021 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
21022 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
21023 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
21024 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
21026 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
21027 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
21030 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
21033 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
21034 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
21037 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
21040 The specs are applied left-to-right.
21043 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
21044 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
21046 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
21047 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
21048 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
21049 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
21051 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
21052 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
21055 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
21057 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
21065 This might be dangerous, though.
21067 @item gnus-nocem-directory
21068 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
21069 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
21070 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
21072 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21073 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21074 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
21075 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
21076 might then see old spam.
21078 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
21079 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
21080 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
21081 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
21082 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
21085 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21086 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21087 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
21088 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
21092 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
21093 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
21094 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
21095 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
21102 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
21103 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
21104 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
21106 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
21107 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
21108 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
21109 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
21110 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
21111 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
21112 @code{undo} function.
21114 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
21115 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
21116 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
21117 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
21118 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
21119 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
21120 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
21121 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
21122 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
21123 never be totally undoable.
21125 @findex gnus-undo-mode
21126 @vindex gnus-use-undo
21128 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
21129 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
21130 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
21131 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
21135 @node Predicate Specifiers
21136 @section Predicate Specifiers
21137 @cindex predicate specifiers
21139 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
21140 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
21141 to type all that much.
21143 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
21148 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
21149 gnus-article-unread-p)
21152 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
21153 functions all take one parameter.
21155 @findex gnus-make-predicate
21156 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
21157 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
21158 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
21163 @section Moderation
21166 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
21167 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
21168 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
21171 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
21175 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
21178 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
21180 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
21185 You split your incoming mail by matching on
21186 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
21187 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
21190 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
21191 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
21194 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
21195 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
21199 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
21202 (setq gnus-moderated-list
21203 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
21207 @node Image Enhancements
21208 @section Image Enhancements
21210 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21, is able to display pictures and stuff, so
21211 Gnus has taken advantage of that.
21214 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
21215 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
21216 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
21217 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
21230 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
21231 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
21232 over your shoulder as you read news.
21234 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
21243 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
21244 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
21245 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
21246 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
21247 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
21248 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
21249 @code{GIF} formats.
21252 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21253 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
21254 point your Web browser at
21255 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
21257 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
21258 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
21260 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
21261 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
21264 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
21268 @item gnus-picon-databases
21269 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21270 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
21271 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
21272 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
21273 "/usr/local/faces")}.
21275 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
21276 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
21277 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
21278 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
21280 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
21281 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
21282 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
21283 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
21285 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
21286 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
21287 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
21288 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
21289 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
21291 @item gnus-picon-file-types
21292 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
21293 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
21294 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your Emacs.
21299 @subsection Smileys
21304 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
21309 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
21310 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
21312 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
21313 @file{.gnus.el} file:
21316 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
21319 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
21320 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
21321 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
21322 text and maps that to file names.
21324 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
21325 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
21326 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
21327 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
21328 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
21331 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
21336 @item smiley-data-directory
21337 @vindex smiley-data-directory
21338 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
21340 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
21341 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
21342 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
21351 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
21352 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
21353 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
21357 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
21358 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
21359 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
21360 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
21368 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
21369 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
21370 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
21371 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
21373 The variable that controls this is the
21374 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
21375 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
21376 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
21377 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
21378 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
21380 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
21381 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
21382 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
21383 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
21386 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
21387 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
21388 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
21389 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
21390 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
21391 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
21392 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
21393 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
21395 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
21398 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21399 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
21401 @findex gnus-random-x-face
21402 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
21403 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
21404 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
21405 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
21406 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
21407 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
21408 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
21409 header data as a string.
21411 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
21412 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
21413 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
21414 randomly generated data.
21416 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
21417 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
21418 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
21419 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
21420 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
21422 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
21423 like the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
21426 (setq message-required-news-headers
21427 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21428 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
21431 Using the last function would be something like this:
21434 (setq message-required-news-headers
21435 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21436 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
21437 (gnus-x-face-from-file
21438 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
21443 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
21446 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21447 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21448 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
21449 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
21450 unusual directory structure.
21452 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21453 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21454 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
21455 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
21457 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21458 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21459 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
21460 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
21461 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
21462 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
21464 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21465 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21466 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
21471 @subsubsection Toolbar
21475 @item gnus-use-toolbar
21476 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
21477 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
21478 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
21479 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
21481 @item gnus-group-toolbar
21482 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
21483 The toolbar in the group buffer.
21485 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
21486 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
21487 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
21489 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21490 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21491 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
21502 @node Fuzzy Matching
21503 @section Fuzzy Matching
21504 @cindex fuzzy matching
21506 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
21507 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
21509 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
21510 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
21511 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
21513 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
21514 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
21515 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
21516 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
21517 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
21520 @node Thwarting Email Spam
21521 @section Thwarting Email Spam
21525 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21527 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
21528 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
21529 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
21530 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
21531 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
21532 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
21533 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
21534 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
21537 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
21538 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
21539 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
21540 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
21541 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
21542 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
21544 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
21547 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
21548 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
21549 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
21550 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
21551 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
21552 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
21555 @node The problem of spam
21556 @subsection The problem of spam
21558 @cindex spam filtering approaches
21559 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
21561 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21563 First, some background on spam.
21565 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
21566 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it exists
21567 because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail, so only
21568 a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to make it
21569 worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most common
21570 spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for further
21571 spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers}, but terms like
21572 @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, and @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
21574 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
21575 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
21576 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
21577 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
21578 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
21579 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
21580 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
21581 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
21582 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
21585 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering. If you get 200
21586 spam messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you
21587 block @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about
21588 @samp{VIAGRA}, you discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the
21589 message. This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate
21590 e-mail. For instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest
21591 has been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it
21592 @strong{contained} words that were common in spam messages.
21593 Nevertheless, in isolated cases, with great care, direct filtering of
21594 mail can be useful.
21596 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
21597 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
21598 @code{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @samp{X} in
21599 China, Ghana, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
21600 @code{N} systems enter @samp{X} or the spam e-mail from @samp{X} into
21601 a database. The criteria for spam detection vary - it may be the
21602 number of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When
21603 a user of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a
21604 message is spam, he consults one of those @code{N} systems.
21606 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
21607 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
21608 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
21609 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
21610 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
21611 sending spam, and their web sites have been shut down for some time
21612 because of the incident.
21614 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
21615 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
21616 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
21617 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
21618 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
21619 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
21620 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
21621 to store the database of spam analyses.
21623 @node Anti-Spam Basics
21624 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
21628 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21630 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
21631 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
21633 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
21634 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
21635 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
21636 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
21637 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
21638 part of the mail address.)
21641 (setq message-default-news-headers
21642 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
21645 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
21646 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21651 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
21652 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
21653 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
21659 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
21660 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
21661 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
21662 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
21664 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @sc{smtp} server
21665 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
21666 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
21667 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
21668 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
21669 your fancy split rule in this way:
21674 (to "larsi" "misc")
21678 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
21679 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
21680 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
21681 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
21682 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
21684 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
21685 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
21686 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
21687 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
21688 cosmic balance somewhat.
21690 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
21691 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
21692 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
21693 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
21698 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
21699 @cindex SpamAssassin
21700 @cindex Vipul's Razor
21703 The days where the hints in the previous section was sufficient in
21704 avoiding spam is coming to an end. There are many tools out there
21705 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
21706 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
21707 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
21708 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
21709 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
21711 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
21712 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
21713 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
21714 Specifiers}) follows.
21718 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
21721 :postscript "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
21724 Once you managed to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
21725 the mail contain e.g. a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
21726 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
21729 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
21733 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21736 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
21737 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
21741 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
21742 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
21743 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
21744 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
21747 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
21749 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
21751 (let ((buf (or (get-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
21752 (get-buffer " *nnml move*"))))
21754 (progn (message "Oops, cannot find message buffer") nil)
21756 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
21757 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
21761 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
21762 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
21763 spam. And here is the nifty function:
21766 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
21767 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
21769 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
21770 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
21771 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
21775 @subsection Hashcash
21778 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
21779 costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
21780 you cannot rely on that everyone in the world uses this technique,
21781 since it is not part of the Internet standards, but it may be useful
21782 in smaller communities.
21784 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
21785 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
21786 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
21787 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
21788 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
21789 instead requires that everyone you communicate with supports the
21790 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
21791 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
21792 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
21793 one of them separately.
21796 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
21797 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
21798 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
21799 header. For more details, and for the external application
21800 @code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
21801 @uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
21802 information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
21804 If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
21808 (require 'hashcash)
21809 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
21812 The @code{hashcash.el} library can be found at
21813 @uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}, or in the Gnus
21814 development contrib directory.
21816 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
21820 @item hashcash-default-payment
21821 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
21822 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
21823 should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
21824 done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
21826 @item hashcash-payment-alist
21827 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
21828 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
21829 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
21830 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
21831 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
21832 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
21833 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
21834 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
21838 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
21842 Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
21843 hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
21844 customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
21845 a useful contribution, however.
21847 @node Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
21848 @subsection Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
21849 @cindex spam filtering
21852 The idea behind @code{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
21853 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @code{spam.el} does two things: it
21854 filters incoming mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam or ham.
21855 @emph{Ham} is the name used throughout @code{spam.el} to indicate
21858 So, what happens when you load @code{spam.el}? First of all, you get
21859 the following keyboard commands:
21869 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
21870 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
21872 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark.
21873 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
21874 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group. This is done automatically
21875 for unread articles in @emph{spam} groups.
21881 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
21882 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
21884 You must have Bogofilter installed for that command to work properly.
21890 Also, when you load @code{spam.el}, you will be able to customize its
21891 variables. Try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{spam} variable
21894 The concepts of ham processors and spam processors are very important.
21895 Ham processors and spam processors for a group can be set with the
21896 @code{spam-process} group parameter, or the
21897 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. Ham processors take
21898 mail known to be non-spam (@emph{ham}) and process it in some way so
21899 that later similar mail will also be considered non-spam. Spam
21900 processors take mail known to be spam and process it so similar spam
21901 will be detected later.
21903 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
21904 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
21905 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
21906 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
21907 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
21908 by customizing the corresponding variable
21909 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
21910 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
21911 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
21912 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
21913 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
21914 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
21915 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
21918 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
21919 they get the @samp{$} mark when you enter the group. You must review
21920 these messages from time to time and remove the @samp{$} mark for
21921 every message that is not spam after all. To remove the @samp{$}
21922 mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or @kbd{d} for
21923 declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a group, all
21924 spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam processor which
21925 will study them as spam samples.
21927 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
21928 @code{spam-ham-marks} gets overridden below, marks @samp{R} and
21929 @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
21930 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
21931 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
21932 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
21933 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
21934 should then adjust the @code{spam-ham-marks} variable.
21936 @defvar spam-ham-marks
21937 You can customize this variable to be the list of marks you want to
21938 consider ham. By default, the list contains the deleted, read,
21939 killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks.
21942 @defvar spam-spam-marks
21943 You can customize this variable to be the list of marks you want to
21944 consider spam. By default, the list contains only the spam mark.
21947 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
21948 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
21949 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
21950 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
21951 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
21952 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
21955 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
21956 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
21957 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
21958 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
21959 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
21960 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
21961 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
21962 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with
21963 @code{customize-variable gnus-ham-process-destinations}). The ultimate
21964 location is a group name. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
21965 parameter is not set, spam articles are only expired.
21967 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
21968 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
21970 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
21971 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
21972 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
21973 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
21974 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
21975 customize this variable with @code{customize-variable
21976 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). The ultimate location is a group
21977 name. If the @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set,
21978 the spam articles are only expired.
21980 To use the @code{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
21981 must add the following to your fancy split list
21982 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
21988 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
21989 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
21990 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
21992 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the
21993 mail considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
21994 @code{spam-split-group}. By default that group name is @samp{spam},
21995 but you can customize it.
21997 @emph{Note for IMAP users}
21999 The boolean variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} needs to be
22000 set, if you want to split based on the whole message instead of just
22001 the headers. By default, the nnimap backend will only retrieve the
22002 message headers. If you use spam-check-bogofilter, spam-check-ifile,
22003 or spam-check-stat (the splitters that can benefit from the full
22004 message body), you should set this variable. It is not set by default
22005 because it will slow IMAP down.
22007 @xref{Splitting in IMAP}.
22009 @emph{TODO: Currently, spam.el only supports insertion of articles
22010 into a backend. There is no way to tell spam.el that an article is no
22011 longer spam or ham.}
22013 @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
22014 statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
22017 The following are the methods you can use to control the behavior of
22018 @code{spam-split} and their corresponding spam and ham processors:
22021 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
22022 * BBDB Whitelists::
22024 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
22026 * ifile spam filtering::
22027 * spam-stat spam filtering::
22028 * Extending the spam elisp package::
22031 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
22032 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
22033 @cindex spam filtering
22034 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
22035 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
22038 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
22040 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
22041 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
22042 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
22043 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
22048 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
22050 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
22051 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
22052 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
22053 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
22054 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
22058 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
22060 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
22061 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
22062 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
22066 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
22068 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22069 customizing the group parameters or the
22070 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22071 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22072 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
22076 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
22078 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22079 customizing the group parameters or the
22080 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22081 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22082 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
22083 whitelist. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
22084 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22088 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
22089 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
22090 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
22091 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
22092 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
22094 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
22095 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
22096 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
22097 Emacs regular expression syntax.
22099 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
22100 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
22101 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
22102 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
22103 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
22104 @file{blacklist} respectively.
22106 @node BBDB Whitelists
22107 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
22108 @cindex spam filtering
22109 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
22110 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
22113 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
22115 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
22116 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
22117 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
22118 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
22119 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
22120 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
22121 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
22125 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
22127 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
22128 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
22129 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
22130 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
22131 classified as spammers.
22135 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
22137 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22138 customizing the group parameters or the
22139 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22140 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22141 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
22142 BBDB. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
22143 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22148 @subsubsection Blackholes
22149 @cindex spam filtering
22150 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
22153 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
22155 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
22156 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
22157 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
22158 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
22159 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
22160 contains outdated servers.
22162 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
22163 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
22164 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to nil. It is not recommended at this
22165 time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to nil despite the possible
22166 performance improvements, because some users may be unable to use it,
22167 but you can try it and see if it works for you.
22171 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
22173 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
22177 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
22179 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
22180 blackhole server list. When set to nil, it has no effect.
22184 @defvar spam-use-dig
22186 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
22187 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
22191 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
22192 ham processor for blackholes.
22194 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
22195 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
22196 @cindex spam filtering
22197 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
22200 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
22202 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
22203 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
22204 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
22205 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
22206 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
22207 message is spam or ham, respectively.
22211 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
22213 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
22214 the message, positively identify it as spam.
22218 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
22220 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
22221 the message, positively identify it as ham.
22225 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
22226 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
22229 @subsubsection Bogofilter
22230 @cindex spam filtering
22231 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
22234 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
22236 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
22239 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
22240 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
22241 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
22242 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
22243 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
22244 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
22246 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on an internal
22247 threshold, set at compilation time. That threshold can't be
22250 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
22251 processing will be turned off.
22253 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
22257 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
22259 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
22260 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
22261 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
22262 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
22263 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
22264 installation documents for details.
22266 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
22270 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
22271 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22272 customizing the group parameters or the
22273 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22274 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
22275 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
22278 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
22279 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22280 customizing the group parameters or the
22281 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22282 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
22283 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
22284 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
22285 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22288 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
22290 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
22291 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
22292 database directory.
22296 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to ifile in intent and
22297 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
22298 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
22299 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
22300 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
22301 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
22303 @node ifile spam filtering
22304 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
22305 @cindex spam filtering
22306 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
22309 @defvar spam-use-ifile
22311 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use ifile, a
22312 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
22316 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
22318 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
22319 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
22320 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
22324 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
22326 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
22327 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
22328 the default value of @samp{spam}.
22331 @defvar spam-ifile-database-path
22333 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
22334 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
22338 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
22339 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
22340 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
22341 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
22344 @node spam-stat spam filtering
22345 @subsubsection spam-stat spam filtering
22346 @cindex spam filtering
22347 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
22351 @xref{Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat}.
22353 @defvar spam-use-stat
22355 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use
22356 spam-stat.el, an Emacs Lisp statistical analyzer.
22360 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
22361 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22362 customizing the group parameters or the
22363 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22364 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
22365 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
22368 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
22369 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22370 customizing the group parameters or the
22371 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22372 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
22373 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
22374 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
22375 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22378 This enables spam.el to cooperate with spam-stat.el. spam-stat.el
22379 provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database, which unlike ifile or
22380 Bogofilter does not require external programs. A spam and a ham
22381 processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for @code{spam-split}
22384 @node Extending the spam elisp package
22385 @subsubsection Extending the spam elisp package
22386 @cindex spam filtering
22387 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
22388 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
22390 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
22391 incoming mail, provide the following:
22399 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
22400 "True if blackbox should be used.")
22405 (spam-use-blackbox . spam-check-blackbox)
22407 to @code{spam-list-of-checks}.
22412 Write the @code{spam-check-blackbox} function. It should return
22413 @samp{nil} or @code{spam-split-group}. See the existing
22414 @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can do.
22416 Make sure to add @code{spam-use-blackbox} to
22417 @code{spam-list-of-statistical-checks} if Blackbox is a statistical
22418 mail analyzer that needs the full message body to operate.
22422 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
22429 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
22430 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
22433 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
22434 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
22435 Only applicable to spam groups.")
22437 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
22438 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
22439 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
22447 (defun spam-blackbox-register-spam-routine ()
22448 (spam-generic-register-routine
22449 ;; the spam function
22451 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
22452 (when (stringp from)
22453 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer from))))
22454 ;; the ham function
22457 (defun spam-blackbox-register-ham-routine ()
22458 (spam-generic-register-routine
22459 ;; the spam function
22461 ;; the ham function
22463 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
22464 (when (stringp from)
22465 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender from))))))
22468 Write the @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender} and
22469 @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer} functions. You can add
22470 more complex code than fetching the message sender, but keep in mind
22471 that retrieving the whole message takes significantly longer than the
22472 sender through @code{spam-fetch-field-from-fast}, because the message
22473 senders are kept in memory by Gnus.
22478 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
22479 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
22480 @cindex Paul Graham
22481 @cindex Graham, Paul
22482 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
22483 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
22484 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
22486 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
22487 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
22488 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
22489 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
22490 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
22491 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
22492 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
22493 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
22494 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
22497 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
22498 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
22499 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
22500 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
22501 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
22502 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
22503 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
22504 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
22506 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
22507 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
22508 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
22509 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
22510 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
22513 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
22514 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
22515 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
22518 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
22519 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
22521 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
22522 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
22523 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
22524 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
22525 need several hundred emails in both collections.
22527 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
22528 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
22529 per mail. Use the following:
22531 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
22532 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
22533 is treated as one spam mail.
22536 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
22537 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
22538 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
22541 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
22542 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
22543 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
22544 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
22545 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
22546 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
22548 When you are using IMAP, you won't have the mails available locally,
22549 so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent to cache
22550 the articles. Then you can use directories such as
22551 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
22552 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
22555 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics -- the
22556 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
22557 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
22558 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
22561 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
22562 reset the dictionary.
22564 @defun spam-stat-reset
22565 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
22568 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
22569 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
22570 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
22571 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
22572 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
22573 only non-spam mails.
22575 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
22576 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
22577 to update the dictionary incrementally.
22580 @defun spam-stat-save
22581 Save the dictionary.
22584 @defvar spam-stat-file
22585 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
22586 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
22589 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
22590 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
22592 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
22593 following to your @file{~/.gnus} file:
22596 (require 'spam-stat)
22600 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
22603 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
22604 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
22605 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
22606 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
22608 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
22609 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
22610 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
22611 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
22614 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22615 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22619 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
22620 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
22623 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
22624 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
22625 expression are considered potential spam.
22628 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22629 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22630 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22634 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
22635 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
22636 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
22637 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
22638 mails, when creating the dictionary!
22641 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22642 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22643 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22647 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
22648 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
22649 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
22650 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
22651 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
22655 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22656 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
22657 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22658 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22663 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
22664 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
22666 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
22668 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
22669 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
22670 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
22673 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
22674 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
22675 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
22678 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
22679 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
22680 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
22681 already been processed as non-spam.
22684 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
22685 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
22686 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
22687 been processed as spam.
22690 @defun spam-stat-save
22691 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
22692 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
22695 @defun spam-stat-load
22696 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
22697 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
22700 @defun spam-stat-score-word
22701 Return the spam score for a word.
22704 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
22705 Return the spam score for a buffer.
22708 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
22709 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
22710 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
22713 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
22714 following in your @file{~/.gnus} file:
22717 (require 'spam-stat)
22721 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
22724 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
22725 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22726 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22727 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22728 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
22729 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
22730 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22731 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22732 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
22733 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22734 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
22735 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
22736 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22737 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22740 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
22743 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
22744 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22745 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22746 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
22747 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
22748 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22751 @node Various Various
22752 @section Various Various
22758 @item gnus-home-directory
22759 @vindex gnus-home-directory
22760 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
22761 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
22763 @item gnus-directory
22764 @vindex gnus-directory
22765 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
22766 this variable, which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment
22767 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
22769 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
22770 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
22771 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
22772 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
22774 @item gnus-default-directory
22775 @vindex gnus-default-directory
22776 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
22777 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
22778 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
22779 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
22780 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
22781 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
22784 @vindex gnus-verbose
22785 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
22786 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
22787 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
22788 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
22789 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
22791 @item gnus-verbose-backends
22792 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
22793 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
22794 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
22796 @item nnheader-max-head-length
22797 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
22798 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
22799 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
22800 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
22801 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
22802 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
22803 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
22804 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
22805 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
22807 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
22808 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
22809 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
22810 read when doing the operation described above.
22812 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22813 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22815 @cindex invalid characters in file names
22816 @cindex characters in file names
22817 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
22818 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
22819 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
22822 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22826 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
22827 Windows (phooey) systems.
22829 @item gnus-hidden-properties
22830 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
22831 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
22832 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
22833 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
22835 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
22836 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
22837 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
22838 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
22839 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
22841 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
22842 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
22843 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
22845 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
22846 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
22848 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
22849 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
22850 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
22851 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
22854 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
22862 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
22863 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
22865 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
22867 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
22873 Not because of victories @*
22876 but for the common sunshine,@*
22878 the largess of the spring.
22882 but for the day's work done@*
22883 as well as I was able;@*
22884 not for a seat upon the dais@*
22885 but at the common table.@*
22890 @chapter Appendices
22893 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
22894 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
22895 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
22896 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
22897 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
22898 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
22899 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
22900 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
22901 * Frequently Asked Questions::
22908 @cindex Installing under XEmacs
22910 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
22911 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
22912 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
22913 @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
22914 @samp{xemacs-base}, @samp{sh-script} and @samp{fsf-compat}. The
22915 @samp{misc-games} package is required for Morse decoding.
22922 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
22923 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
22925 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
22926 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
22927 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
22928 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
22929 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
22931 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
22932 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
22933 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
22934 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
22935 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
22936 appropriate name, don't you think?)
22938 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
22939 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
22940 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
22941 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
22944 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
22945 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
22946 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
22947 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
22948 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
22949 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
22950 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
22951 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
22952 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
22956 @node Gnus Versions
22957 @subsection Gnus Versions
22959 @cindex September Gnus
22961 @cindex Quassia Gnus
22962 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
22966 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
22967 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
22968 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
22970 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
22971 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
22973 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
22974 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
22976 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
22977 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
22979 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
22980 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
22983 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
22985 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
22986 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
22987 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
22988 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
22989 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
22990 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
22993 @node Other Gnus Versions
22994 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
22997 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
22998 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
22999 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
23000 @sc{mime} capabilities.
23002 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
23003 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
23004 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
23005 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
23012 What's the point of Gnus?
23014 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
23015 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
23016 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
23017 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
23018 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
23019 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
23020 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
23021 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
23022 keep track of millions of people who post?
23024 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
23025 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
23026 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
23027 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
23028 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
23029 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
23030 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
23031 every one of you to explore and invent.
23033 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
23034 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
23037 @node Compatibility
23038 @subsection Compatibility
23040 @cindex compatibility
23041 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
23042 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
23043 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
23048 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
23052 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
23055 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
23058 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
23059 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
23060 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
23061 important variables have their values copied into their global
23062 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
23063 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
23065 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
23066 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
23067 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
23068 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
23069 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
23073 @cindex highlighting
23074 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
23075 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
23076 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
23077 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
23078 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
23079 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
23082 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
23083 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
23084 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
23085 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
23087 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
23088 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
23089 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
23090 to stop doing it the old way.
23092 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
23094 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
23096 @cindex reporting bugs
23098 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
23099 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
23100 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
23102 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
23103 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
23104 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
23105 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
23110 @subsection Conformity
23112 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
23113 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
23121 There are no known breaches of this standard.
23125 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
23127 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
23128 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
23129 We do have some breaches to this one.
23135 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
23136 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
23137 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
23138 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
23139 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
23144 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
23145 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
23146 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
23147 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
23149 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
23151 All the various @sc{mime} RFCs are supported.
23153 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
23154 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
23156 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
23159 RFC 1991 is the original PGP message specification, published as a
23160 Information RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now called Open PGP, and
23161 put on the Standards Track. Both document a non-@sc{mime} aware PGP
23162 format. Gnus supports both encoding (signing and encryption) and
23163 decoding (verification and decryption).
23165 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
23166 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
23167 1991) describes the @sc{mime}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
23168 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
23170 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
23171 RFC 2633 describes the @sc{s/mime} format.
23173 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
23174 RFC 1730 is @sc{imap} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060 (@sc{imap} 4
23175 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5 authentication for @sc{imap}. RFC
23176 2086 describes access control lists (ACLs) for @sc{imap}. RFC 2359
23177 describes a @sc{imap} protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper
23178 TLS integration (STARTTLS) with @sc{imap}. RFC 1731 describes the
23179 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @sc{imap}.
23183 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
23184 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
23189 @subsection Emacsen
23195 Gnus should work on :
23203 XEmacs 21.1.1 and up.
23207 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
23208 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
23209 Emacs versions. However, T-gnus does support ``Mule 2.3 based on Emacs
23210 19.34'' and possibly the versions of XEmacs prior to 21.1.1, e.g. 20.4.
23211 See the file ``README'' in the T-gnus distribution for more details.
23213 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
23214 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
23215 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
23219 @node Gnus Development
23220 @subsection Gnus Development
23222 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
23223 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
23224 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
23225 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
23226 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
23227 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
23228 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
23229 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
23231 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
23232 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
23233 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
23234 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
23235 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
23238 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
23239 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
23240 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
23241 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
23242 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
23244 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
23245 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
23246 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
23247 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
23248 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
23249 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
23250 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
23251 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
23252 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
23253 can't be assumed to do so.
23258 @subsection Contributors
23259 @cindex contributors
23261 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
23262 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
23263 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
23264 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
23265 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
23266 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
23267 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
23268 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
23269 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
23270 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
23272 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
23278 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
23281 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
23282 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
23283 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
23284 functionality and stuff.
23287 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
23288 well as numerous other things).
23291 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
23294 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
23297 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
23300 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
23303 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
23304 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
23307 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
23310 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
23311 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
23314 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
23317 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
23320 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
23323 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
23326 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
23327 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
23330 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
23333 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
23336 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
23339 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
23343 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
23346 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
23349 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
23352 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
23353 well as autoconf support.
23357 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
23358 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
23360 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
23369 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
23373 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
23383 Alexei V. Barantsev,
23398 Massimo Campostrini,
23403 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
23404 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
23408 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
23411 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
23417 Michael Welsh Duggan,
23422 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
23426 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
23434 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
23436 Michelangelo Grigni,
23440 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
23442 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
23444 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
23451 François Felix Ingrand,
23452 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
23453 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
23455 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
23466 Peter Skov Knudsen,
23467 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
23469 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
23470 Thor Kristoffersen,
23473 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
23491 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
23492 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
23499 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
23504 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
23508 John McClary Prevost,
23514 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
23519 Christian von Roques,
23522 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
23529 Philippe Schnoebelen,
23531 Randal L. Schwartz,
23545 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
23550 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
23566 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
23571 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
23572 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
23573 (550kB and counting).
23575 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
23578 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
23579 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
23583 @subsection New Features
23584 @cindex new features
23587 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
23588 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
23589 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
23590 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
23591 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
23594 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
23595 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
23596 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
23599 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
23601 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
23606 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
23607 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
23610 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
23611 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
23614 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
23617 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
23618 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
23619 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
23622 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
23623 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
23624 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
23625 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
23628 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
23629 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23632 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
23633 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
23634 (@pxref{The Active File}).
23637 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
23638 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
23641 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
23642 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
23643 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
23646 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
23647 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
23648 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
23651 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus.el}) to avoid cluttering up
23652 the @file{.emacs} file.
23655 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
23656 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
23659 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
23660 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
23663 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
23664 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23667 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
23668 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
23671 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
23672 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
23675 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
23678 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
23679 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
23682 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
23683 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
23686 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
23687 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
23690 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
23693 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
23694 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
23697 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
23701 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
23705 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
23706 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
23709 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
23715 @node September Gnus
23716 @subsubsection September Gnus
23720 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
23724 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
23729 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
23730 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
23734 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
23735 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
23739 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
23743 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
23744 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
23747 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
23751 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
23754 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
23757 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
23760 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
23764 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
23765 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
23768 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
23772 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
23776 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
23780 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
23784 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
23787 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
23788 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
23791 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
23795 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
23796 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
23799 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
23802 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
23803 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
23804 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
23807 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
23811 The Gnus cache is much faster.
23814 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
23818 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
23819 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
23822 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
23823 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
23826 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
23827 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
23830 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
23831 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
23832 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
23835 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
23836 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
23839 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
23842 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
23845 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
23848 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
23851 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
23852 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
23855 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
23859 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
23862 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
23867 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
23870 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
23874 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23877 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
23881 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
23884 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
23887 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
23888 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
23891 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
23892 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
23896 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
23897 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
23900 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
23904 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
23905 buffer to allow easier treatment.
23908 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
23911 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
23915 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
23919 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
23920 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
23923 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
23927 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
23928 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
23931 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
23932 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
23935 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
23939 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
23942 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
23945 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
23951 @subsubsection Red Gnus
23953 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
23957 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
23964 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
23967 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
23968 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
23971 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
23972 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
23976 Article washing status can be displayed in the
23977 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
23980 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
23983 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
23984 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
23987 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
23991 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
23992 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
23996 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
23997 Server Internals}).
24000 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
24004 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
24007 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
24008 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
24011 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
24012 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
24013 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
24016 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
24017 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
24020 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
24021 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
24024 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
24028 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
24029 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
24032 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
24033 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
24036 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
24040 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
24043 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
24047 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
24048 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
24051 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
24052 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
24055 A new command for reading collections of documents
24056 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
24057 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
24060 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
24064 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
24065 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
24068 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
24069 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
24070 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
24073 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
24074 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
24078 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
24082 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
24086 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
24091 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
24095 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
24099 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
24100 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
24103 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
24109 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
24111 New features in Gnus 5.6:
24116 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
24117 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
24118 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
24121 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
24122 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
24123 group, which is created automatically.
24126 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
24130 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
24133 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
24134 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
24137 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
24141 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
24144 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
24145 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
24148 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
24151 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section ``Symbolic
24152 Prefixes'' in the Gnus manual for details.
24155 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
24156 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
24159 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
24160 control over simplification.
24163 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
24166 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
24170 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
24173 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
24176 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
24177 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
24178 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
24181 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
24182 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
24185 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
24189 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
24190 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
24193 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
24194 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
24197 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
24201 A history of where mails have been split is available.
24204 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
24207 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
24208 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
24211 A new function for citing in Message has been
24212 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
24215 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
24218 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
24222 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
24223 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
24226 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
24227 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
24230 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
24233 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
24237 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
24238 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
24240 New features in Gnus 5.8:
24245 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
24246 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
24248 If you used procmail like in
24251 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
24252 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
24253 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
24254 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
24257 this now has changed to
24261 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
24265 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
24266 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
24269 Gnus is now a @sc{mime}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
24270 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
24273 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
24274 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
24277 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
24278 called to position point.
24281 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
24282 summary buffers and @sc{nov} files.
24285 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
24286 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
24289 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
24290 subtly different manner.
24293 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
24294 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
24295 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
24298 Gnus can now read @sc{imap} mail via @code{nnimap}.
24306 @section The Manual
24310 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
24311 either @code{texi2dvi}
24313 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
24314 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
24316 to get what you hold in your hands now.
24318 The following conventions have been used:
24323 This is a @samp{string}
24326 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
24329 This is a @file{file}
24332 This is a @code{symbol}
24336 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
24340 (setq flargnoze "yes")
24343 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
24346 (setq flumphel 'yes)
24349 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
24350 ever get them confused.
24354 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
24355 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
24356 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
24357 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
24358 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
24359 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
24360 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
24366 @node On Writing Manuals
24367 @section On Writing Manuals
24369 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
24370 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
24371 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
24372 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
24373 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
24374 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
24377 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
24378 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
24379 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
24382 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
24383 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
24388 @section Terminology
24390 @cindex terminology
24395 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
24396 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
24397 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
24398 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
24399 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
24403 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
24404 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
24405 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
24406 not posting, and replying is not following up.
24410 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
24414 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
24419 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
24420 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
24421 commonly fetched via the protocol NNTP, whereas mail messages could be
24422 read from a file on the local disk. The internal architecture of Gnus
24423 thus comprises a `front end' and a number of `back ends'. Internally,
24424 when you enter a group (by hitting @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke
24425 a function in the front end in Gnus. The front end then `talks' to a
24426 back end and says things like ``Give me the list of articles in the foo
24427 group'' or ``Show me article number 4711''.
24429 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back end
24430 accesses news via NNTP, the @code{nnimap} back end accesses mail via
24431 IMAP) or a file format and directory layout (the @code{nnspool} back end
24432 accesses news via the common `spool directory' format, the @code{nnml}
24433 back end access mail via a file format and directory layout that's
24436 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
24437 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
24438 access the articles.
24440 However, sometimes the term `back end' is also used where `server'
24441 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term `select
24442 method' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
24447 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
24448 default, way of getting news.
24452 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
24453 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
24458 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
24459 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
24463 A message that has been posted as news.
24466 @cindex mail message
24467 A message that has been mailed.
24471 A mail message or news article
24475 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
24480 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
24485 A line from the head of an article.
24489 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
24490 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
24494 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
24495 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
24496 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
24497 normal @sc{head} format.
24501 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
24502 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
24503 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
24504 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
24505 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
24506 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
24508 @item killed groups
24509 @cindex killed groups
24510 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
24511 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
24513 @item zombie groups
24514 @cindex zombie groups
24515 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
24518 @cindex active file
24519 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
24520 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
24521 is rather large, as you might surmise.
24524 @cindex bogus groups
24525 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
24526 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
24527 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
24530 @cindex activating groups
24531 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
24532 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
24533 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
24537 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
24539 @item select method
24540 @cindex select method
24541 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
24544 @item virtual server
24545 @cindex virtual server
24546 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
24547 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
24548 whole is a virtual server.
24552 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
24553 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
24556 @item ephemeral groups
24557 @cindex ephemeral groups
24558 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
24559 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
24560 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
24563 @cindex solid groups
24564 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
24565 group buffer are solid groups.
24567 @item sparse articles
24568 @cindex sparse articles
24569 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
24570 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
24574 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
24575 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
24579 @cindex thread root
24580 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
24581 articles in the thread.
24585 An article that has responses.
24589 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
24593 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
24594 specified by RFC 1153.
24600 @node Customization
24601 @section Customization
24602 @cindex general customization
24604 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
24605 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
24606 for some quite common situations.
24609 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
24610 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
24611 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
24612 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
24616 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
24617 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
24619 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
24620 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
24621 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
24625 @item gnus-read-active-file
24626 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
24627 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
24628 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
24629 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
24630 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
24632 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
24633 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
24634 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
24635 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
24639 @node Slow Terminal Connection
24640 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
24642 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
24643 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
24644 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
24648 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
24649 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
24650 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
24651 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
24652 horizontal and vertical recentering.
24654 @item gnus-visible-headers
24655 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
24656 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
24657 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
24658 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
24660 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
24662 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
24663 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
24664 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
24667 @item gnus-use-full-window
24668 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
24669 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
24670 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
24671 want to read them anyway.
24673 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
24674 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
24678 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
24679 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
24680 lines, which might save some time.
24684 @node Little Disk Space
24685 @subsection Little Disk Space
24688 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
24689 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
24693 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
24694 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
24695 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
24696 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
24699 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
24700 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
24701 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
24702 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
24705 @item gnus-save-killed-list
24706 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
24707 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
24708 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
24709 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
24715 @subsection Slow Machine
24716 @cindex slow machine
24718 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
24719 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
24721 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
24722 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
24724 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
24725 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
24726 summary buffer faster.
24730 @node Troubleshooting
24731 @section Troubleshooting
24732 @cindex troubleshooting
24734 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
24742 Make sure your computer is switched on.
24745 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
24746 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
24750 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
24751 like @samp{T-gnus 6.15.* (based on Oort Gnus v0.*; for SEMI 1.1*, FLIM
24752 1.1*)} you have the right files loaded. If, on the other hand, you get
24753 something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp flee}, you have some old
24754 @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
24757 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
24761 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
24762 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
24763 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
24764 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
24765 something like that.
24768 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
24771 @cindex reporting bugs
24773 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
24775 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
24776 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
24777 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
24778 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
24780 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
24781 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
24782 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
24783 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
24786 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
24787 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
24788 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
24789 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
24790 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
24791 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
24793 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
24794 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
24795 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
24799 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
24800 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
24803 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
24804 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
24805 edebug. Debugging lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
24806 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
24807 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
24808 you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
24809 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
24810 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
24811 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
24812 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
24813 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
24814 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
24815 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
24816 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
24821 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate a elisp error but
24822 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
24823 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
24824 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
24825 helps isolating the real problem areas). A fancier approach is to use
24826 the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is (or should be) fully
24827 documented elsewhere, but to get you started there are a few steps
24828 that need to be followed. First, instrument the part of Gnus you are
24829 interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package RET
24830 gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package RET message}. Then perform
24831 the operation that is slow and press @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will
24832 then see which operations that takes time, and can debug them further.
24833 If the entire operation takes much longer than the time spent in the
24834 slowest function in the profiler output, you probably profiled the
24835 wrong part of Gnus. To reset profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x
24836 elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove
24837 profiling, but given the complexities and dynamic code generation in
24838 Gnus, it might not always work perfectly.
24840 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
24841 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
24843 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
24844 @cindex ding mailing list
24845 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@email{ding@@gnus.org}.
24846 Write to @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
24850 @node Gnus Reference Guide
24851 @section Gnus Reference Guide
24853 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
24854 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
24855 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
24856 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
24859 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
24860 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
24861 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
24862 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
24863 and general methods of operation.
24866 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
24867 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
24868 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
24869 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
24870 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
24871 * Group Info:: The group info format.
24872 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
24873 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
24874 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
24878 @node Gnus Utility Functions
24879 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
24880 @cindex Gnus utility functions
24881 @cindex utility functions
24883 @cindex internal variables
24885 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
24886 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
24887 Below is a list of the most common ones.
24891 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
24892 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
24893 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
24895 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
24896 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
24897 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
24899 @item gnus-group-real-name
24900 @findex gnus-group-real-name
24901 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
24904 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
24905 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
24906 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
24907 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
24909 @item gnus-get-info
24910 @findex gnus-get-info
24911 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
24913 @item gnus-group-unread
24914 @findex gnus-group-unread
24915 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
24919 @findex gnus-active
24920 The active entry for @var{group}.
24922 @item gnus-set-active
24923 @findex gnus-set-active
24924 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
24926 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
24927 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
24928 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
24931 @item gnus-continuum-version
24932 @findex gnus-continuum-version
24933 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
24934 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
24937 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
24938 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
24939 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
24941 @item gnus-news-group-p
24942 @findex gnus-news-group-p
24943 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
24945 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
24946 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
24947 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
24949 @item gnus-server-to-method
24950 @findex gnus-server-to-method
24951 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
24953 @item gnus-server-equal
24954 @findex gnus-server-equal
24955 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
24957 @item gnus-group-native-p
24958 @findex gnus-group-native-p
24959 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
24961 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
24962 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
24963 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
24965 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
24966 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
24967 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
24969 @item group-group-find-parameter
24970 @findex group-group-find-parameter
24971 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
24972 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
24974 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
24975 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
24976 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
24978 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
24979 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
24980 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
24982 @item gnus-check-backend-function
24983 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
24984 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
24985 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
24988 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
24992 @item gnus-read-method
24993 @findex gnus-read-method
24994 Prompts the user for a select method.
24999 @node Back End Interface
25000 @subsection Back End Interface
25002 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
25003 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
25004 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
25005 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
25006 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
25007 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
25009 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
25010 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
25011 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
25012 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
25013 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
25014 been opened, the function should fail.
25016 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
25017 name. Take this example:
25021 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
25022 (nntp-port-number 4324))
25025 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
25026 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
25028 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
25029 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
25030 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
25032 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
25033 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
25034 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
25036 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
25037 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
25038 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
25039 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
25040 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
25041 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
25044 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
25045 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
25046 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
25047 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
25050 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
25051 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
25052 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
25053 possible for later articles to `re-use' older article numbers without
25054 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
25055 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
25056 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
25057 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
25058 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
25059 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
25061 The previous paragraph already mentions all the `hard' restrictions that
25062 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
25063 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
25064 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
25065 the `no-reuse' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
25066 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
25067 of numbers as long as possible.
25069 Note that by convention, backends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
25070 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
25071 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
25073 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
25076 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
25079 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
25080 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
25081 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
25082 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
25083 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
25084 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
25088 @node Required Back End Functions
25089 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
25093 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
25095 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
25096 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
25097 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
25098 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
25100 The result data should either be HEADs or @sc{nov} lines, and the result
25101 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
25102 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
25103 of HEADs and @sc{nov} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
25105 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
25106 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
25107 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
25108 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
25109 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
25110 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
25111 number, do maximum fetches.
25113 Here's an example HEAD:
25116 221 1056 Article retrieved.
25117 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
25118 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
25119 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
25120 Subject: Re: Something very droll
25121 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
25122 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
25124 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
25125 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
25126 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
25130 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
25131 these in the data buffer.
25133 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
25137 head = error / valid-head
25138 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
25139 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
25140 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
25141 header = <text> eol
25145 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
25147 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
25148 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
25152 nov-buffer = *nov-line
25153 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
25154 field = <text except TAB>
25157 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
25161 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
25163 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
25164 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
25166 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
25167 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
25168 server. In fact, it should do so.
25170 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
25171 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
25174 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
25176 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
25177 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
25180 There should be no data returned.
25183 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
25185 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
25186 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
25187 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
25188 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
25190 There should be no data returned.
25193 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
25195 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
25196 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
25197 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
25198 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
25200 There should be no data returned.
25203 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
25205 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
25207 There should be no data returned.
25210 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
25212 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
25213 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
25214 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
25215 it would be nice if that were possible.
25217 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
25218 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
25219 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
25220 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
25221 into its article buffer.
25223 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
25224 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
25225 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
25226 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
25227 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
25228 on successful article retrieval.
25231 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
25233 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
25234 making @var{group} the current group.
25236 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
25239 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
25242 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
25245 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
25246 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
25247 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
25248 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
25249 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
25250 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
25251 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
25252 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
25253 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
25257 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
25258 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
25259 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
25263 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
25265 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
25266 a no-op on most back ends.
25268 There should be no data returned.
25271 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
25273 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
25276 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
25279 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
25280 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
25283 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
25284 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
25285 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
25286 and the highest as 0.
25289 active-file = *active-line
25290 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
25292 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
25295 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
25296 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
25297 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
25300 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
25302 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
25303 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
25304 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
25305 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
25306 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
25307 clear if the posting could not be completed.
25309 There should be no result data from this function.
25314 @node Optional Back End Functions
25315 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
25319 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
25321 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
25322 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
25323 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
25325 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
25326 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
25327 former is in the same format as the data from
25328 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
25329 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
25332 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
25336 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
25338 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
25339 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all the
25340 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
25341 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
25342 should return a non-nil value.
25344 There should be no result data from this function.
25347 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
25349 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
25350 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
25351 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
25352 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
25353 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
25354 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
25355 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
25356 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
25358 There should be no result data from this function.
25361 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
25363 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
25364 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
25365 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
25366 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
25367 propagate the mark information to the server.
25369 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
25372 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
25375 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
25376 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
25377 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
25378 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
25379 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
25380 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
25381 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
25382 possible, not limit itself to these.
25384 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
25385 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
25386 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
25387 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
25389 An example action list:
25392 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
25393 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
25394 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
25397 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
25398 mark on (currently not used for anything).
25400 There should be no result data from this function.
25402 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
25404 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
25405 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
25406 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
25407 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
25408 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
25410 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
25411 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
25412 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
25415 There should be no result data from this function.
25418 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
25420 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
25421 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
25422 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query the
25423 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
25424 to be heeded---if the back end decides that it is too much work just
25425 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
25426 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
25428 There should be no result data from this function.
25431 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
25433 The result data from this function should be a description of
25437 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
25439 description = <text>
25442 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
25444 The result data from this function should be the description of all
25445 groups available on the server.
25448 description-buffer = *description-line
25452 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
25454 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
25455 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
25456 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
25457 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
25458 in the active buffer format.
25460 It is okay for this function to return `too many' groups; some back ends
25461 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
25462 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
25463 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
25464 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
25465 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
25466 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
25469 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
25471 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
25473 There should be no return data.
25476 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
25478 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
25479 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
25480 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
25481 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
25482 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
25485 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
25488 There should be no result data returned.
25491 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
25493 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
25494 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
25496 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
25497 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
25498 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
25499 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
25500 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
25501 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
25503 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
25504 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
25507 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
25508 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
25510 The group should exist before the backend is asked to accept the
25511 article for that group.
25513 There should be no data returned.
25516 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
25518 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
25519 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
25520 this function in short order.
25522 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
25523 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
25525 There should be no data returned.
25528 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
25530 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
25531 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
25533 There should be no data returned.
25536 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
25538 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
25539 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
25540 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
25542 There should be no data returned.
25545 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
25547 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
25548 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
25550 There should be no data returned.
25555 @node Error Messaging
25556 @subsubsection Error Messaging
25558 @findex nnheader-report
25559 @findex nnheader-get-report
25560 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
25561 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
25562 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
25563 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
25564 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
25565 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
25568 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
25570 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
25573 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
25574 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
25575 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
25576 takes one argument---the server symbol.
25578 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
25579 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
25580 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
25583 @node Writing New Back Ends
25584 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
25586 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
25587 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
25588 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
25589 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
25590 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
25593 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
25594 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
25595 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
25597 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
25598 package called @code{nnoo}.
25600 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
25601 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
25607 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
25608 parameters. For instance:
25611 (nnoo-declare nndir
25615 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
25616 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
25619 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
25620 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
25621 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
25623 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
25624 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
25625 a function in those back ends.
25628 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
25629 "Where nndir will look for groups."
25630 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
25633 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
25634 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
25635 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
25637 @item nnoo-define-basics
25638 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
25642 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
25646 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
25647 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
25648 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
25650 @item nnoo-map-functions
25651 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
25652 functions from the parent back ends.
25655 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
25656 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25657 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
25660 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
25661 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
25662 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
25663 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
25666 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
25667 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
25668 haven't already been defined.
25674 nnmh-request-newgroups)
25678 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
25679 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
25680 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
25685 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
25688 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
25689 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
25693 (require 'nnheader)
25697 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
25699 (nnoo-declare nndir
25702 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
25703 "Where nndir will look for groups."
25704 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
25706 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
25707 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
25710 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
25712 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
25713 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
25714 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
25716 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
25717 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
25719 ;;; Interface functions.
25721 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
25723 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
25724 (setq nndir-directory
25725 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
25727 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
25728 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
25729 (push `(nndir-current-group
25730 ,(file-name-nondirectory
25731 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
25733 (push `(nndir-top-directory
25734 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
25736 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
25738 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
25739 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25740 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25741 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
25742 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
25746 nnmh-status-message
25748 nnmh-request-newgroups))
25754 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
25755 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
25757 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
25758 @findex gnus-declare-backend
25759 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
25760 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
25761 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
25763 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
25764 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
25769 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
25772 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
25774 The abilities can be:
25778 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
25780 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
25782 This back end supports both mail and news.
25784 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
25787 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
25788 articles and groups.
25790 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
25791 true for almost all back ends.
25792 @item prompt-address
25793 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
25794 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
25795 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
25799 @node Mail-like Back Ends
25800 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
25802 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
25803 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
25804 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
25805 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
25808 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
25809 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
25810 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
25813 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
25814 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
25817 This function takes four parameters.
25821 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
25824 @item exit-function
25825 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
25827 @item temp-directory
25828 Where the temporary files should be stored.
25831 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
25832 performed for one group only.
25835 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
25836 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
25837 find the article number assigned to this article.
25839 The function also uses the following variables:
25840 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
25841 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
25842 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
25843 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
25847 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
25848 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
25852 @node Score File Syntax
25853 @subsection Score File Syntax
25855 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
25856 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
25857 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
25859 Here's a typical score file:
25863 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
25870 BNF definition of a score file:
25873 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
25874 element = rule / atom
25875 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
25876 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
25877 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
25878 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
25880 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
25881 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
25882 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
25883 date-header = "date"
25884 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
25885 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25886 score = "nil" / <integer>
25887 date = "nil" / <natural number>
25888 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
25889 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
25890 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
25891 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
25892 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
25893 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25894 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
25895 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
25896 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
25897 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
25898 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
25899 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
25900 exclude-files / read-only / touched
25901 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
25902 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
25903 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
25904 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
25905 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
25906 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
25907 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
25908 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
25909 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
25910 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
25911 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
25912 eval = "eval" space <form>
25913 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
25916 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
25919 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
25920 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
25921 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
25922 one looong line, then that's ok.
25924 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
25925 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
25929 @subsection Headers
25931 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
25932 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
25933 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
25934 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
25936 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
25937 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
25938 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
25939 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
25940 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
25941 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
25942 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
25944 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
25945 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
25946 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
25947 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
25948 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
25950 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
25951 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
25957 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
25958 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
25960 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
25961 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
25962 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
25963 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
25965 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
25969 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
25972 is transformed into
25975 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
25978 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
25979 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
25982 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
25985 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
25986 is slightly tricky:
25989 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
25995 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
25998 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
26004 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
26011 and is equal to the previous range.
26013 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
26014 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
26015 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
26019 range = simple-range / normal-range
26020 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
26021 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
26022 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
26023 number *[ " " contents ]
26026 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
26027 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
26028 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
26029 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
26030 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
26035 @subsection Group Info
26037 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
26038 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
26039 describes the group.
26041 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
26042 second is a more complex one:
26045 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
26047 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
26048 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
26050 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
26053 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
26054 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
26055 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
26056 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
26057 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
26058 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
26059 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
26060 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
26061 this section is about.
26063 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
26064 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
26065 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
26067 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
26070 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
26071 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
26072 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
26073 group = quote <string> quote
26074 ralevel = rank / level
26075 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
26076 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
26077 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
26079 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
26080 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
26081 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
26082 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
26085 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
26086 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
26089 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
26090 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
26093 @item gnus-info-group
26094 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
26095 @findex gnus-info-group
26096 @findex gnus-info-set-group
26097 Get/set the group name.
26099 @item gnus-info-rank
26100 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
26101 @findex gnus-info-rank
26102 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
26103 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
26105 @item gnus-info-level
26106 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
26107 @findex gnus-info-level
26108 @findex gnus-info-set-level
26109 Get/set the group level.
26111 @item gnus-info-score
26112 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
26113 @findex gnus-info-score
26114 @findex gnus-info-set-score
26115 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
26117 @item gnus-info-read
26118 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
26119 @findex gnus-info-read
26120 @findex gnus-info-set-read
26121 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
26123 @item gnus-info-marks
26124 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
26125 @findex gnus-info-marks
26126 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
26127 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
26129 @item gnus-info-method
26130 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
26131 @findex gnus-info-method
26132 @findex gnus-info-set-method
26133 Get/set the group select method.
26135 @item gnus-info-params
26136 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
26137 @findex gnus-info-params
26138 @findex gnus-info-set-params
26139 Get/set the group parameters.
26142 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
26143 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
26145 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
26146 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
26147 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
26148 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
26151 @node Extended Interactive
26152 @subsection Extended Interactive
26153 @cindex interactive
26154 @findex gnus-interactive
26156 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
26157 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
26158 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
26161 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
26162 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
26167 The best thing to do would have been to implement
26168 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
26169 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
26170 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
26171 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
26172 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
26173 @code{interactive}.
26175 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
26180 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
26181 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
26185 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
26186 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
26187 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
26190 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
26194 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
26198 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
26204 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
26205 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
26209 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
26210 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
26211 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
26213 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
26214 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
26215 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
26216 Gnus, that's very useful.
26218 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
26219 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
26220 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
26221 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
26222 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
26223 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
26224 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
26225 following function:
26228 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
26232 (,function ,@@args))
26236 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
26237 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
26238 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
26241 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
26242 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
26243 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
26245 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
26246 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
26247 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
26250 @node Various File Formats
26251 @subsection Various File Formats
26254 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
26255 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
26259 @node Active File Format
26260 @subsubsection Active File Format
26262 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
26263 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
26266 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
26269 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
26270 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
26271 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
26272 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
26273 no.general 1000 900 y
26276 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
26279 active = *group-line
26280 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
26281 group = <non-white-space string>
26283 high-number = <non-negative integer>
26284 low-number = <positive integer>
26285 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
26288 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
26289 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
26292 @node Newsgroups File Format
26293 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
26295 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
26296 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
26297 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
26300 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
26301 Here's the definition:
26305 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
26306 group = <non-white-space string>
26308 description = <string>
26313 @node Emacs for Heathens
26314 @section Emacs for Heathens
26316 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
26317 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
26318 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
26319 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
26320 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
26321 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
26322 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
26326 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
26327 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
26332 @subsection Keystrokes
26336 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
26339 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
26342 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
26343 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
26344 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
26345 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
26346 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
26347 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
26349 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
26350 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
26351 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
26352 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
26353 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
26354 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
26355 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
26357 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
26358 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
26359 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
26360 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
26361 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
26362 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
26363 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
26365 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
26366 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
26367 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
26368 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
26369 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
26375 @subsection Emacs Lisp
26377 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
26378 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
26379 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
26380 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
26382 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
26383 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
26384 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
26385 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
26386 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
26387 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
26388 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
26391 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
26392 write the following:
26395 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
26398 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
26399 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
26400 you can go and fill your @file{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
26403 If you have put that thing in your @file{.emacs} file, it will be read
26404 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
26405 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
26406 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
26407 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
26409 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
26410 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
26411 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
26415 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
26419 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
26422 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
26423 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
26426 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
26429 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
26430 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
26433 @include gnus-faq.texi
26453 @c Local Variables:
26455 @c coding: iso-8859-1
26457 % LocalWords: BNF mucho detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
26458 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
26459 % LocalWords: nnmbox newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
26460 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
26461 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref