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-ssl-stream
12391 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12392 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
12393 you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
12394 installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}. You then
12395 define a server as follows:
12398 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
12400 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
12401 ;; however, openssl s_client -port doesn't like named ports
12403 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12404 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12405 (nntp-port-number 563)
12406 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12409 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12410 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12411 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12412 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12413 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12414 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12415 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12416 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12420 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12421 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12422 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12425 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12426 session, which is not a good idea.
12430 @node Indirect Functions
12431 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12432 @cindex indirect connection functions
12434 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12435 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
12436 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12437 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
12438 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12439 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12442 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12443 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12444 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12445 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12446 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12448 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12451 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12452 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12453 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12454 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12456 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12457 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12458 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12459 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12460 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
12461 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12462 this to @samp{("-t")} or @samp{("-C" "-t")} if the telnet command
12463 requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate host.
12466 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12467 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12468 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12469 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12471 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12474 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12475 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12476 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12479 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12480 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12481 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12482 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12484 @item nntp-via-user-password
12485 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12486 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12488 @item nntp-via-envuser
12489 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12490 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12491 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12492 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12494 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12495 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12496 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12497 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12504 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12509 @item nntp-via-user-name
12510 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12511 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12513 @item nntp-via-address
12514 @vindex nntp-via-address
12515 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12520 @node Common Variables
12521 @subsubsection Common Variables
12523 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12524 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12529 @item nntp-pre-command
12530 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12531 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native connection
12532 function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream} and
12533 @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is where you would put a @samp{SOCKS}
12534 wrapper for instance.
12537 @vindex nntp-address
12538 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
12540 @item nntp-port-number
12541 @vindex nntp-port-number
12542 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{nntp}.
12543 If you use @sc{nntp} over @sc{ssl}, you may want to use integer ports rather
12544 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews}), because
12545 external SSL tools may not work with named ports.
12547 @item nntp-end-of-line
12548 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12549 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
12550 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12551 using a non native connection function.
12553 @item nntp-telnet-command
12554 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12555 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
12556 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
12557 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
12559 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12560 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12561 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12568 @subsection News Spool
12572 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12573 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12574 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12577 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12578 anything else) as the address.
12580 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12581 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12582 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12583 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12587 @item nnspool-inews-program
12588 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12589 Program used to post an article.
12591 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12592 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12593 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12595 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12596 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12597 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12598 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12600 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12601 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12602 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
12603 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12605 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12606 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12607 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12609 @item nnspool-active-file
12610 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12611 The name of the active file.
12613 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12614 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12615 The name of the group descriptions file.
12617 @item nnspool-history-file
12618 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12619 The name of the news history file.
12621 @item nnspool-active-times-file
12622 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
12623 The name of the active date file.
12625 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
12626 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
12627 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
12630 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12631 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12633 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12634 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
12635 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
12641 @section Getting Mail
12642 @cindex reading mail
12645 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
12649 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
12650 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
12651 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
12652 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
12653 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
12654 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
12655 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
12656 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
12657 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
12658 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
12659 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
12660 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
12661 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
12665 @node Mail in a Newsreader
12666 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
12668 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
12669 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
12670 of a culture shock.
12672 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
12673 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
12675 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
12676 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
12677 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
12678 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
12680 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
12682 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
12683 deleted? How awful!
12685 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
12686 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
12687 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
12688 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
12691 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
12692 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
12693 they want to treat a message.
12695 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
12696 via @sc{smtp}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
12697 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
12698 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
12699 archived somewhere else.
12701 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
12702 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
12703 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
12704 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
12705 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
12707 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
12708 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
12709 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
12711 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
12712 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
12715 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
12716 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
12717 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
12718 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
12719 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
12721 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
12722 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
12723 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
12724 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
12725 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
12726 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
12730 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
12731 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
12733 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
12734 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
12735 and things will happen automatically.
12737 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
12738 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
12741 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12744 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
12745 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
12746 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
12747 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
12748 like any other group.
12750 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
12753 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12754 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12755 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12759 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
12760 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
12761 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
12764 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
12765 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
12766 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
12769 @node Splitting Mail
12770 @subsection Splitting Mail
12771 @cindex splitting mail
12772 @cindex mail splitting
12774 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
12775 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
12776 to be split into groups.
12779 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12780 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12781 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12782 ("mail.other" "")))
12785 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
12786 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
12787 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
12788 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
12789 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
12790 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
12791 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
12794 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
12797 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
12798 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
12799 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
12800 mail belongs in that group.
12802 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
12803 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{*} so that it matches any mails
12804 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
12805 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
12806 rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled.
12807 In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.)
12809 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
12810 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
12811 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
12812 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
12813 thinks should carry this mail message.
12815 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
12816 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
12817 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
12818 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
12820 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
12821 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
12822 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
12823 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
12824 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{*}) group.
12826 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
12829 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
12830 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
12831 links. If that's the case for you, set
12832 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
12833 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
12835 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
12836 @kindex nnmail-split-history
12837 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
12838 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
12839 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
12840 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
12843 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
12844 Header lines longer than the value of
12845 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
12848 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
12849 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
12850 By default the splitting codes @sc{mime} decodes headers so you can match
12851 on non-ASCII strings. The @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
12852 variable specifies the default charset for decoding. The behaviour
12853 can be turned off completely by binding
12854 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to nil, which is useful if you
12855 want to match articles based on the raw header data.
12857 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
12858 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If
12859 you specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable
12860 @code{mail-sources} @pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}, however, then
12861 splitting does @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
12862 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-nil value to make splitting
12863 happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on other kinds
12866 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
12867 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
12868 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
12869 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
12870 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
12871 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
12872 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
12873 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
12874 month's rent money.
12878 @subsection Mail Sources
12880 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
12881 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
12885 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
12886 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
12887 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
12891 @node Mail Source Specifiers
12892 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
12894 @cindex mail server
12897 @cindex mail source
12899 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
12900 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
12905 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
12908 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
12909 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
12910 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
12913 The following mail source types are available:
12917 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
12923 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
12924 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
12925 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
12929 Script run before/after fetching mail.
12932 An example file mail source:
12935 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
12938 Or using the default file name:
12944 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
12945 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
12946 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
12949 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
12953 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
12956 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
12960 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
12963 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
12965 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
12968 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
12972 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
12973 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
12974 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files. That is,
12975 there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that directory and
12976 groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in
12977 the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
12978 of @code{.spool}.) Setting
12979 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus to
12980 scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you want
12981 to scan mail groups at a specified level.
12983 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
12984 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
12985 that to a non-nil value, then the normal splitting process is applied
12986 to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
12992 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
12996 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
13000 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
13001 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
13002 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
13003 predicate are considered.
13007 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13011 An example directory mail source:
13014 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
13019 Get mail from a POP server.
13025 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
13026 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13029 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
13030 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
13031 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
13032 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
13033 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
13036 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
13040 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
13044 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
13045 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
13048 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
13051 The valid format specifier characters are:
13055 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
13056 included in this string.
13059 The name of the server.
13062 The port number of the server.
13065 The user name to use.
13068 The password to use.
13071 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13072 corresponding keywords.
13075 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13076 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13079 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13080 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13083 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
13084 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
13087 @item :authentication
13088 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
13089 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
13093 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this can be the symbol
13094 @code{ssl}, the symbol @code{tls} or others. The default is @code{nil}
13095 and use insecure connections. Note that for SSL/TLS, you need external
13096 programs and libraries:
13100 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL@. Requires OpenSSL (the program
13101 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
13102 library @samp{ssl.el}.
13104 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to SSL)@.
13105 Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
13110 Non-@code{nil} if mail is to be left on the server and UIDL used for
13111 message retrieval. The default is @code{nil}.
13115 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
13116 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
13118 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
13119 default user name, and default fetcher:
13125 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
13128 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
13129 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
13132 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
13135 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
13139 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
13140 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
13141 contains exactly one mail.
13147 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
13148 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
13151 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
13152 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
13154 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
13155 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
13156 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
13159 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
13160 from locking problems).
13164 Two example maildir mail sources:
13167 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
13168 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
13172 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
13177 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
13178 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
13179 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
13180 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
13183 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, SSL/TLS and STARTTLS support you
13184 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
13190 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
13191 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13194 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
13195 @samp{993} for SSL/TLS connections.
13198 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
13202 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
13206 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
13207 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
13208 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{ssl},
13209 @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
13211 @item :authentication
13212 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
13213 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
13214 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
13215 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13218 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13219 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
13220 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13226 The valid format specifier characters are:
13230 The name of the server.
13233 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
13236 The port number of the server.
13239 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13240 corresponding keywords.
13243 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13244 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13247 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13248 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13249 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
13250 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13251 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13252 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13255 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13256 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13257 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13258 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13261 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
13262 after finishing the fetch.
13266 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
13269 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13271 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13275 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{www.hotmail.com},
13276 @uref{webmail.netscape.com}, @uref{www.netaddress.com},
13277 @uref{mail.yahoo..com}.
13279 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13280 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13282 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13288 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13289 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13292 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13296 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13300 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
13301 folder after finishing the fetch.
13305 An example webmail source:
13308 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13310 :password "secret")
13315 @item Common Keywords
13316 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13322 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
13323 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
13327 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13332 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13333 useful when you use local mail and news.
13338 @subsubsection Function Interface
13340 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13341 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13342 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13343 consider the following mail-source setting:
13346 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13347 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13350 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13351 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13352 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13353 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13354 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13356 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13359 @node Mail Source Customization
13360 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13362 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13363 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13367 @item mail-source-crash-box
13368 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13369 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
13370 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13372 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13373 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13374 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
13375 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
13376 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
13377 (This will only happen, when reveiving new mail). You may also set
13378 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
13379 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
13381 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13382 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13383 If @code{non-nil}, ask for for confirmation before deleting old incoming
13384 files. This variable only applies when
13385 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
13387 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
13388 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
13389 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
13391 @item mail-source-directory
13392 @vindex mail-source-directory
13393 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13394 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13395 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13398 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13399 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13400 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13401 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13402 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13403 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13405 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13406 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13407 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13409 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13410 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13411 If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
13412 @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13417 @node Fetching Mail
13418 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13420 @vindex mail-sources
13421 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13422 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13423 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13424 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13426 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13427 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13430 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
13431 mail server, you'd say something like:
13436 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13437 :password "secret")))
13440 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13444 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13445 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13448 :password "secret")))
13452 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13453 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13454 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13455 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13456 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13457 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13461 @node Mail Back End Variables
13462 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13464 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13468 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13469 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13470 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13471 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13473 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13474 @item nnmail-split-hook
13475 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
13476 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
13477 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
13478 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13479 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13480 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13481 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13482 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13483 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13486 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13487 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13488 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13489 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13490 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13491 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13492 starting to handle the new mail) and
13493 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13494 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13495 default file modes the new mail files get:
13498 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13499 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13501 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13502 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13505 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13506 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13507 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13508 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13509 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13510 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13511 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13513 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13514 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13515 @findex delete-file
13516 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13518 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13519 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13520 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13521 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13522 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13524 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13525 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13526 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13527 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13528 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13530 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13531 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13532 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13537 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13538 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13539 @cindex mail splitting
13540 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13542 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13543 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13544 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13545 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13546 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13547 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13549 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13552 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
13553 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
13554 ;; from real errors.
13555 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13557 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
13558 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
13559 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
13560 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13561 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13562 ;; Other mailing lists...
13563 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13564 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13565 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
13566 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
13567 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
13568 ;; message was really cross-posted.
13569 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13570 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13572 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13573 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
13577 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
13578 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
13579 the five possible split syntaxes:
13584 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
13585 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
13589 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
13590 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
13591 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
13592 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
13593 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
13594 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
13595 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
13596 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13599 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13600 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
13601 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
13602 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
13605 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13606 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
13609 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
13610 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
13613 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
13614 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
13615 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
13616 function should return a @var{split}.
13619 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13620 body of the messages:
13623 (defun split-on-body ()
13625 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
13626 (goto-char (point-min))
13627 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13631 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
13632 when the @code{:} function is run.
13635 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the
13636 first element is @code{!}, then @var{split} will be processed, and
13637 @var{func} will be called as a function with the result of @var{split}
13638 as argument. @var{func} should return a split.
13641 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
13645 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
13646 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
13647 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
13648 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
13649 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
13651 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
13652 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
13653 are expanded as specified by the variable
13654 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
13655 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
13658 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
13659 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
13660 when all this splitting is performed.
13662 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
13663 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
13664 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
13667 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
13670 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
13671 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
13673 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
13674 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
13675 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
13676 groupings 1 through 9.
13678 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
13679 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
13680 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
13681 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
13682 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
13683 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
13684 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
13685 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
13686 it once per thread.
13688 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
13689 @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
13690 you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
13693 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; or 'delete
13694 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
13696 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
13697 ;; other splits go here
13701 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
13702 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
13703 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
13704 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
13705 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
13706 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
13707 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
13708 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
13709 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
13710 unless the group name matches the regexp
13711 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
13712 that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
13713 number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
13714 (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
13715 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13716 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
13717 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
13718 messages goes into the new group.
13720 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
13721 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
13722 outgoing messages are written to an `outgoing' group, you could set
13723 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
13724 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
13728 @node Group Mail Splitting
13729 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
13730 @cindex mail splitting
13731 @cindex group mail splitting
13733 @findex gnus-group-split
13734 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
13735 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
13736 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
13737 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
13738 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
13739 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
13740 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
13741 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
13743 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
13744 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
13745 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
13746 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
13748 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
13749 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
13750 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
13751 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
13752 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
13753 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
13754 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
13756 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
13757 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
13758 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
13759 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
13760 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
13761 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
13762 @code{gnus-group-split}.
13764 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
13765 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
13766 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
13767 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
13768 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
13769 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
13770 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
13771 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
13772 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
13773 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
13774 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
13775 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
13776 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
13778 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
13783 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
13784 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
13786 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
13787 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
13788 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
13789 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
13791 ((split-spec . catch-all))
13794 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
13795 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
13796 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
13799 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
13800 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
13801 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
13805 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
13806 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
13807 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
13811 (: gnus-group-split-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
13814 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
13815 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
13816 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
13817 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
13818 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
13819 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
13820 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
13821 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
13822 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
13824 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
13825 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
13826 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
13827 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
13828 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
13829 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
13830 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
13831 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
13832 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
13834 @findex gnus-group-split-update
13835 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
13836 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
13837 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
13838 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
13839 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus.el}:
13842 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
13845 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
13846 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
13847 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
13848 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
13849 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
13852 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
13853 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
13854 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
13855 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
13857 @node Incorporating Old Mail
13858 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
13859 @cindex incorporating old mail
13860 @cindex import old mail
13862 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
13863 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
13864 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
13867 Doing so can be quite easy.
13869 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
13870 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
13871 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
13872 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
13873 your @code{nnml} groups.
13879 Go to the group buffer.
13882 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
13883 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13886 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
13889 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
13890 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13893 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
13894 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
13897 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
13898 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
13899 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
13900 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
13901 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
13903 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
13904 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
13905 using the new mail back end.
13908 @node Expiring Mail
13909 @subsection Expiring Mail
13910 @cindex article expiry
13912 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
13913 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
13914 different approach to mail reading.
13916 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
13917 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
13918 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
13919 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
13920 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
13921 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
13924 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
13925 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default keybindings, this means
13926 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
13927 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
13928 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
13929 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
13930 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
13931 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
13932 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
13934 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
13935 two features, called `auto-expire' and `total-expire', that can help you
13936 with this. In a nutshell, `auto-expire' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
13937 for you when you select an article. And `total-expire' means that Gnus
13938 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
13939 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
13940 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
13943 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
13944 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
13945 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
13946 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
13947 into its own group.)
13949 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
13950 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
13951 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
13952 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
13953 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
13954 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
13955 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring @pxref{Adaptive
13956 Scoring}. Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
13959 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13960 Groups that match the regular expression
13961 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
13962 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
13963 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
13965 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
13966 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
13967 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
13968 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
13969 @file{.gnus.el} file:
13971 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
13973 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
13974 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
13975 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
13978 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
13979 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
13980 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
13981 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
13982 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
13984 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
13985 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
13988 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13989 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
13992 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
13993 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
13995 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
13996 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
13997 don't really mix very well.
13999 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
14000 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
14001 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
14002 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
14005 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
14006 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
14007 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
14008 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
14011 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14013 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14015 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
14017 ((string= group "mail.junk")
14019 ((string= group "important")
14025 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
14026 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
14028 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
14029 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
14030 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
14033 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
14034 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
14036 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
14037 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
14038 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
14039 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
14040 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
14041 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
14042 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
14043 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
14044 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
14045 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
14046 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
14047 from as its parameter) which should return a target -- either a group
14048 name or @code{delete}.
14050 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
14052 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
14055 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14056 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14057 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
14058 expire mail to groups according to the variable
14059 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
14062 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14063 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14064 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
14065 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
14066 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
14069 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
14070 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
14071 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
14072 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
14073 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
14074 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
14076 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
14077 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
14078 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
14079 easier for procmail users.
14081 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
14082 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
14083 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
14084 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
14085 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
14086 caution. Even more dangerous is the
14087 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
14088 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
14089 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
14090 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
14091 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
14092 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
14093 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
14096 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
14098 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
14099 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
14100 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
14101 auto-expire turned on.
14105 @subsection Washing Mail
14106 @cindex mail washing
14107 @cindex list server brain damage
14108 @cindex incoming mail treatment
14110 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
14111 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
14112 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
14113 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
14114 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
14115 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
14117 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
14118 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
14119 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
14122 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
14123 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
14124 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
14125 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
14128 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14129 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14130 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
14131 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
14132 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
14135 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14136 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14137 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
14138 Emacs running on MS machines.
14142 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14143 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14144 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
14145 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
14148 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14149 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14150 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
14151 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
14153 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
14154 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
14155 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
14156 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
14157 into a feature by documenting it.)
14159 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14160 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14161 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
14162 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
14163 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
14164 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
14165 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
14168 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
14169 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
14172 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
14173 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
14176 This can also be done non-destructively with
14177 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
14179 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
14180 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
14181 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
14183 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14184 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14186 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
14187 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
14188 @code{References} headers.
14192 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14193 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14194 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
14198 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
14199 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
14200 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
14207 @subsection Duplicates
14209 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
14210 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
14211 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
14212 @cindex duplicate mails
14213 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
14214 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
14215 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
14216 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
14217 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
14218 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
14219 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
14220 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
14221 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
14222 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
14223 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
14224 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
14225 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
14227 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
14228 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
14229 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
14230 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
14232 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
14235 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
14236 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14240 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14241 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
14242 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14243 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
14244 (any mail "mail.misc")
14251 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14252 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14257 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14258 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14259 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14260 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14261 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14264 @node Not Reading Mail
14265 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14267 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14268 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14269 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14271 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14272 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14273 mail, which should help.
14275 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14276 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14277 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14278 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14279 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14280 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14281 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
14282 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14283 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14284 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14285 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14287 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14288 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14292 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14293 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
14295 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
14296 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
14297 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
14299 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
14300 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
14301 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
14305 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
14306 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
14307 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
14308 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
14309 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
14310 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
14311 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
14315 @node Unix Mail Box
14316 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
14318 @cindex unix mail box
14320 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14321 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14322 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
14323 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
14324 which group it belongs in.
14326 Virtual server settings:
14329 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
14330 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14331 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
14334 @item nnmbox-active-file
14335 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14336 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
14337 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
14339 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
14340 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14341 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
14342 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
14347 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
14351 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14352 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14353 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
14354 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
14355 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
14357 Virtual server settings:
14360 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
14361 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14362 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
14364 @item nnbabyl-active-file
14365 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14366 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
14367 @file{~/.rmail-active}
14369 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14370 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14371 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14377 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14379 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
14381 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14382 format. It should be used with some caution.
14384 @vindex nnml-directory
14385 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14386 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14387 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14388 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14390 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14393 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14394 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14395 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14396 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14397 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14398 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14399 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14400 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14402 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14403 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14404 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14405 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14407 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14409 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14410 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14411 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14412 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14413 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14414 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14415 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14416 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14419 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14420 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14421 them next time it starts.
14423 Virtual server settings:
14426 @item nnml-directory
14427 @vindex nnml-directory
14428 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
14429 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
14432 @item nnml-active-file
14433 @vindex nnml-active-file
14434 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14435 @file{~/Mail/active}.
14437 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14438 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14439 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14440 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
14442 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14443 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14444 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14447 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14448 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14449 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14450 default is @code{nil}.
14452 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14453 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14454 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14456 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14457 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14458 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14460 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14461 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14462 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14463 default is @code{nil}.
14465 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14466 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14467 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
14469 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
14470 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
14471 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
14476 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
14477 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
14478 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
14479 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
14480 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
14481 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
14482 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
14487 @subsubsection MH Spool
14489 @cindex mh-e mail spool
14491 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
14492 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
14493 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
14494 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
14496 Virtual server settings:
14499 @item nnmh-directory
14500 @vindex nnmh-directory
14501 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
14502 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14505 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
14506 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14507 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
14511 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
14512 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
14513 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
14514 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
14515 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
14516 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
14517 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
14522 @subsubsection Maildir
14526 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
14527 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
14528 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
14529 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. nnmaildir also
14530 stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory within a
14533 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
14534 reading, without needing locks. With other backends, you would have
14535 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
14536 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
14537 can still do that with nnmaildir, but the more common configuration is
14538 to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs that appear as
14541 nnmaildir is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will never
14542 corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never corrupt its
14543 data in the filesystem.
14545 nnmaildir stores article marks and NOV data in each maildir. So you
14546 can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to another, and you will
14549 Virtual server settings:
14553 For each of your nnmaildir servers (it's very unlikely that you'd need
14554 more than one), you need to create a directory and populate it with
14555 maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not choose a
14556 directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir will be
14557 represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the filename of the
14558 symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames in the directory
14559 starting with `.' are ignored. The directory is scanned when you
14560 first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in the group buffer;
14561 if any maildirs have been removed or added, nnmaildir notices at these
14564 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
14565 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
14566 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
14567 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
14568 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
14569 don't worry - a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
14570 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
14571 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
14572 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
14573 if nnmaildir uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical value.
14575 @item target-prefix
14576 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
14577 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
14578 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
14581 When you create a group on an nnmaildir server, the maildir is created
14582 with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
14583 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
14584 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
14585 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
14586 the group @code{foo}, nnmaildir will create
14587 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
14588 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
14589 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
14591 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
14592 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
14593 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
14594 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
14595 symlinks pointing to them will be).
14597 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
14598 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
14599 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
14600 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
14601 @code{force} argument.
14603 @item directory-files
14604 This should be a function with the same interface as
14605 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
14606 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
14607 parameter is optional; the default is
14608 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
14609 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
14610 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
14611 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
14612 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
14613 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
14616 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
14617 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
14618 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
14619 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
14620 value is @code{nil}.
14622 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
14623 an nnmaildir group. The results might happen to be useful, but that
14624 would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be different
14625 in the future. If your split rules create new groups, remember to
14626 supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
14629 @subsubsection Group parameters
14631 nnmaildir uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore all
14632 this; the default behavior for nnmaildir is the same as the default
14633 behavior for other mail backends: articles are deleted after one week,
14634 etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this functionality is
14635 unique to nnmaildir, so you can ignore it if you're just trying to
14636 duplicate the behavior you already have with another backend.
14638 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
14639 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
14640 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
14641 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
14642 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
14643 backends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
14644 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
14645 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
14646 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
14650 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article before
14651 it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
14652 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
14653 nnmaildir falls back to the usual
14654 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (overridable by
14655 the @code{expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) group parameters. If you
14656 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
14657 60 60)]}; nnmaildir will evaluate the form and use the result. An
14658 article's age is measured starting from the article file's
14659 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
14660 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
14661 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
14664 If this is set to a string (a full Gnus group name, like
14665 @code{"backend+server.address.string:group.name"}), and if it is not
14666 the name of the same group that the parameter belongs to, then
14667 articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry before
14668 being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an nnmaildir group, the
14669 article will be just as old in the destination group as it was in the
14670 source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the destination
14671 group. If this is set to the name of the same group that the
14672 parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If you
14673 use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
14674 article. So that form can refer to
14675 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
14679 If this is set to @code{t}, nnmaildir will treat the articles in this
14680 maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed from
14681 @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in @file{new/},
14682 not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles cannot be
14683 edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the @file{new/}
14684 directory of another maildir - e.g., a system-wide mailbox containing
14685 a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the maildir outside
14686 @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for a shared
14687 mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or have write
14688 permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't contain
14689 extra copies of the articles.
14691 @item directory-files
14692 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
14693 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
14694 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
14695 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
14697 @item distrust-Lines:
14698 If non-@code{nil}, nnmaildir will always count the lines of an
14699 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
14700 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
14703 A list of mark symbols, such as
14704 @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever Gnus asks nnmaildir for
14705 article marks, nnmaildir will say that all articles have these
14706 marks, regardless of whether the marks stored in the filesystem
14707 say so. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will probably be
14708 removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
14709 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
14712 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
14713 Gnus asks nnmaildir for article marks, nnmaildir will say that no
14714 articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks stored in
14715 the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
14716 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
14717 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
14718 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
14720 @item nov-cache-size
14721 An integer specifying the size of the NOV memory cache. To speed
14722 things up, nnmaildir keeps NOV data in memory for a limited number of
14723 articles in each group. (This is probably not worthwhile, and will
14724 probably be removed in the future.) This parameter's value is noticed
14725 only the first time a group is seen after the server is opened - i.e.,
14726 when you first start Gnus, typically. The NOV cache is never resized
14727 until the server is closed and reopened. The default is an estimate
14728 of the number of articles that would be displayed in the summary
14729 buffer: a count of articles that are either marked with @code{tick} or
14730 not marked with @code{read}, plus a little extra.
14733 @subsubsection Article identification
14734 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
14735 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
14736 contains no colons. nnmaildir ignores, but preserves, the
14737 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
14738 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
14739 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
14740 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
14741 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
14742 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
14743 request the article in the summary buffer.
14745 @subsubsection NOV data
14746 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its NOV data (used to
14747 generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
14748 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
14749 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
14750 need for it - an article's NOV data is updated automatically when the
14751 article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can force
14752 nnmaildir to regenerate the NOV data for a single article simply by
14753 deleting the corresponding NOV file, but @emph{beware}: this will also
14754 cause nnmaildir to assign a new article number for this article, which
14755 may cause trouble with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
14757 @subsubsection Article marks
14758 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
14759 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
14760 When Gnus asks nnmaildir for a group's marks, nnmaildir looks for such
14761 files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus asks nnmaildir
14762 to store a new set of marks, nnmaildir creates and deletes the
14763 corresponding files as needed. (Actually, rather than create a new
14764 file for each mark, it just creates hard links to
14765 @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
14767 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
14768 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
14769 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
14770 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
14771 this while Gnus is running and your nnmaildir server is open, it's
14772 best to exit all summary buffers for nnmaildir groups and type @kbd{s}
14773 in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or @kbd{M-g} in the
14774 group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not pick up the
14775 changes, and might undo them.
14779 @subsubsection Mail Folders
14781 @cindex mbox folders
14782 @cindex mail folders
14784 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
14785 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
14786 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
14789 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
14791 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
14792 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14793 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14794 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
14795 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
14796 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
14797 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
14798 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
14799 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
14800 @code{nnfolder} directory).
14802 Virtual server settings:
14805 @item nnfolder-directory
14806 @vindex nnfolder-directory
14807 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
14808 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14811 @item nnfolder-active-file
14812 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
14813 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
14815 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14816 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14817 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14818 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
14820 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
14821 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14822 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
14825 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14826 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14827 @cindex backup files
14828 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
14829 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
14830 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
14831 your @file{.emacs} file:
14834 (defun turn-off-backup ()
14835 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
14837 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
14840 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14841 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14842 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
14843 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
14844 extract some information from it before removing it.
14846 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14847 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14848 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14849 default is @code{nil}.
14851 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14852 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14853 The extension for @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
14855 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
14856 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
14857 The directory where the @sc{nov} files should be stored. If nil,
14858 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14860 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14861 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14862 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14863 default is @code{nil}.
14865 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14866 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14867 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
14869 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
14870 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
14871 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If nil,
14872 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14877 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
14878 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
14879 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
14880 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
14881 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
14882 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
14885 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
14886 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
14888 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
14889 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
14890 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
14891 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
14892 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
14894 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
14895 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
14896 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
14897 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
14898 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
14899 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
14900 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
14901 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
14904 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
14905 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
14906 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
14907 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
14912 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
14913 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
14914 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
14915 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
14916 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
14917 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
14918 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
14919 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
14920 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
14921 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
14922 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
14923 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
14924 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
14929 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
14930 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
14931 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
14932 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
14933 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
14934 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
14935 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
14936 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
14937 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
14938 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
14939 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
14940 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
14941 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
14942 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
14944 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
14945 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
14950 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
14951 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
14952 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
14953 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
14954 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
14955 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
14956 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
14957 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
14958 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
14959 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
14960 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
14961 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
14962 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
14963 provided by the active file and overviews.
14965 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
14966 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
14967 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
14968 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
14969 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
14972 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
14973 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
14978 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
14979 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
14980 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
14981 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
14982 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
14983 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
14984 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
14988 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
14989 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
14990 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
14991 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
14992 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
14993 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
14994 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
14995 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
14996 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
14998 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
14999 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
15000 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
15001 friendly mail back end all over.
15005 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
15006 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
15007 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
15008 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
15009 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
15010 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
15011 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to ReiserFS
15012 (@uref{http://www.namesys.com/}) or another non-block-structured
15015 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
15016 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
15017 This means you can skip Gnus's mail splitting if your mail is already
15018 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
15019 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
15020 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
15021 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
15022 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
15023 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
15024 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
15025 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
15027 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
15028 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
15029 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
15030 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
15031 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
15034 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses group
15035 parameters slightly different from those of other mail back ends.
15037 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
15038 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
15039 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
15040 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
15041 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
15042 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
15043 removed in the future.
15045 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
15046 back ends. Everything in between is likely to be faster, depending in
15047 part on your file system.
15049 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
15050 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
15055 @node Browsing the Web
15056 @section Browsing the Web
15058 @cindex browsing the web
15062 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
15063 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
15064 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
15065 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
15066 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
15067 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
15068 even know what a news group is.
15070 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
15071 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
15072 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
15073 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
15074 you mad in the end.
15076 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
15079 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
15080 interfaces to these sources.
15084 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
15085 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
15086 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
15087 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
15088 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
15089 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
15092 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
15094 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
15095 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
15096 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
15097 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
15098 though, you should be ok.
15100 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
15101 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
15102 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
15103 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
15104 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
15106 @node Archiving Mail
15107 @subsection Archiving Mail
15108 @cindex archiving mail
15109 @cindex backup of mail
15111 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
15112 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
15113 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
15114 marks is fairly simple.
15116 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
15117 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
15120 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
15121 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
15122 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
15123 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
15124 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
15125 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
15126 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
15127 before you restore the data.
15129 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
15130 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
15131 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
15132 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
15133 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
15134 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
15135 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
15136 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
15137 is unnecessary in that case.
15140 @subsection Web Searches
15145 @cindex Usenet searches
15146 @cindex searching the Usenet
15148 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
15149 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
15150 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
15151 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
15152 searches without having to use a browser.
15154 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
15155 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
15156 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
15157 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
15158 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
15160 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
15161 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
15162 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
15163 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
15164 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
15165 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
15166 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
15167 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
15168 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
15169 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
15172 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
15173 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
15174 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
15175 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
15176 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
15177 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
15179 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
15180 to use @code{nnweb}.
15182 Virtual server variables:
15187 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
15188 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
15189 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
15192 @vindex nnweb-search
15193 The search string to feed to the search engine.
15195 @item nnweb-max-hits
15196 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
15197 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
15200 @item nnweb-type-definition
15201 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
15202 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
15203 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
15208 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
15212 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
15215 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
15218 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
15222 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
15229 @subsection Slashdot
15233 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
15234 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
15235 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
15237 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
15238 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
15241 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15242 '((nnslashdot "")))
15245 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
15246 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
15247 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
15248 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
15249 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
15252 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
15253 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
15255 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
15256 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
15257 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
15258 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
15259 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
15260 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
15263 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
15266 @item nnslashdot-threaded
15267 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
15268 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
15269 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
15270 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
15271 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
15272 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
15274 @item nnslashdot-login-name
15275 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
15276 The login name to use when posting.
15278 @item nnslashdot-password
15279 @vindex nnslashdot-password
15280 The password to use when posting.
15282 @item nnslashdot-directory
15283 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
15284 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
15285 @file{~/News/slashdot/}.
15287 @item nnslashdot-active-url
15288 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
15289 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
15290 news articles and comments. The default is
15291 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
15293 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
15294 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
15295 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
15297 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
15299 @item nnslashdot-article-url
15300 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
15301 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
15303 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
15305 @item nnslashdot-threshold
15306 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
15307 The score threshold. The default is -1.
15309 @item nnslashdot-group-number
15310 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
15311 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
15312 updated. The default is 0.
15319 @subsection Ultimate
15321 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
15323 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
15324 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
15325 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
15326 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
15328 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
15329 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
15330 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
15331 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
15332 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
15333 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
15334 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
15336 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
15339 @item nnultimate-directory
15340 @vindex nnultimate-directory
15341 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
15342 @file{~/News/ultimate/}.
15347 @subsection Web Archive
15349 @cindex Web Archive
15351 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
15352 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
15353 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
15354 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15357 @findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
15358 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
15359 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
15360 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
15361 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
15362 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
15363 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
15364 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
15366 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
15369 @item nnwarchive-directory
15370 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
15371 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
15372 @file{~/News/warchive/}.
15374 @item nnwarchive-login
15375 @vindex nnwarchive-login
15376 The account name on the web server.
15378 @item nnwarchive-passwd
15379 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
15380 The password for your account on the web server.
15388 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
15389 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
15390 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15393 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
15394 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
15397 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
15400 @item nnrss-directory
15401 @vindex nnrss-directory
15402 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
15403 @file{~/News/rss/}.
15407 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
15408 the summary buffer.
15411 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
15412 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
15414 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
15416 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
15417 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
15420 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
15423 (require 'browse-url)
15425 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
15427 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
15430 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
15431 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
15434 (browse-url (cdr url))
15435 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
15436 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
15438 (eval-after-load "gnus"
15439 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
15440 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
15441 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
15444 @node Customizing w3
15445 @subsection Customizing w3
15451 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
15452 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
15453 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
15455 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
15456 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
15457 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
15460 (eval-after-load "w3"
15462 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
15463 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
15464 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
15465 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
15467 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
15470 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
15471 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
15480 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
15481 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
15482 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
15483 specify the network address of the server.
15485 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
15486 POP can, it can hence be viewed as a POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
15487 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
15488 protocol -- however, @sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp}
15489 because news is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
15491 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a POP++, use an imap entry in
15492 @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the
15493 @sc{imap} server and store them on the local disk. This is not the
15494 usage described in this section--@xref{Mail Sources}.
15496 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
15497 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
15498 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
15499 usage explained in this section.
15501 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
15502 might look something like the following. (Note that for SSL/TLS, you
15503 need external programs and libraries, see below.)
15506 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15507 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
15508 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
15510 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15511 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
15512 ; a UW server running on localhost
15514 (nnimap-server-port 143)
15515 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15516 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
15517 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
15518 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
15519 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
15520 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
15521 (nnimap-stream network))
15522 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
15524 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
15525 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
15526 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
15529 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
15530 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
15531 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
15532 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
15534 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
15539 @item nnimap-address
15540 @vindex nnimap-address
15542 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
15543 server name if not specified.
15545 @item nnimap-server-port
15546 @vindex nnimap-server-port
15547 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
15549 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
15552 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15553 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
15556 @item nnimap-list-pattern
15557 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
15558 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
15559 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
15560 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
15561 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
15562 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
15564 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
15565 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
15566 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
15569 Example server specification:
15572 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15573 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
15574 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
15577 @item nnimap-stream
15578 @vindex nnimap-stream
15579 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
15580 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
15581 of SSL/TLS. (@sc{imap} over SSL/TLS is being replaced by STARTTLS, which
15582 can be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
15584 Example server specification:
15587 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15588 (nnimap-stream ssl))
15591 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
15595 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
15596 @samp{imtest} program.
15598 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
15600 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
15601 SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
15604 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the program
15605 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
15607 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
15609 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
15612 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
15613 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
15614 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
15615 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
15616 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
15617 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
15618 restrictions on @sc{imap} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
15619 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
15620 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
15623 @vindex imap-ssl-program
15624 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
15625 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
15626 and nnimap support it too - although the most recent versions of
15627 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
15628 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
15629 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
15632 @vindex imap-shell-program
15633 @vindex imap-shell-host
15634 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
15635 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
15637 @item nnimap-authenticator
15638 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
15640 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
15641 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
15643 Example server specification:
15646 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15647 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
15650 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
15654 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
15655 external program @code{imtest}.
15657 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
15660 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
15661 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
15663 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
15665 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
15667 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your email address as password.
15670 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
15672 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
15673 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
15674 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
15675 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
15676 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
15677 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
15680 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
15681 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
15682 running in circles yet?
15684 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
15685 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
15688 The possible options are:
15693 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
15696 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
15697 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
15698 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
15699 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
15701 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
15706 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
15707 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
15709 If non-nil (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as well),
15710 for other @sc{imap} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
15711 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
15712 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @sc{imap}
15713 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @sc{imap}
15716 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
15717 enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
15720 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
15721 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15722 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
15723 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15726 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
15727 as ticked for other users.
15729 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
15731 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
15733 This variable contain the @sc{imap} search command sent to server when
15734 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
15735 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
15736 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
15738 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
15739 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
15740 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
15741 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
15743 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
15744 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
15746 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
15747 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
15748 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
15754 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
15755 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
15756 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
15757 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
15758 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use IMAP namespace in Gnus.
15763 @node Splitting in IMAP
15764 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
15765 @cindex splitting imap mail
15767 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
15768 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
15769 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
15770 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
15771 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
15775 Here are the variables of interest:
15779 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
15780 @cindex splitting, crosspost
15782 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
15784 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
15785 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
15787 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
15789 @item nnimap-split-inbox
15790 @cindex splitting, inbox
15792 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
15794 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
15795 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
15799 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
15800 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
15803 No nnmail equivalent.
15805 @item nnimap-split-rule
15806 @cindex Splitting, rules
15807 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
15809 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
15812 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
15813 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
15814 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
15815 Neither did I, we need examples.
15818 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15820 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
15821 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
15822 ("INBOX.private" "")))
15825 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
15826 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
15827 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
15829 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
15830 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
15834 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
15837 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
15838 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
15840 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
15841 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
15842 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
15843 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
15845 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
15846 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
15847 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
15848 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
15849 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
15850 them every time you fetch new mail.)
15852 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
15853 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
15854 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
15856 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
15857 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
15858 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15860 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
15862 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
15863 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
15864 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
15867 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15868 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
15869 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
15870 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
15871 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
15872 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
15875 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
15876 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
15877 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
15878 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
15879 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
15880 group/function elements.
15882 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
15884 @item nnimap-split-predicate
15886 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
15888 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
15889 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
15891 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
15892 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
15893 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
15896 @item nnimap-split-fancy
15897 @cindex splitting, fancy
15898 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
15899 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
15901 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15902 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
15903 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
15905 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
15906 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15907 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
15908 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15913 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
15914 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
15917 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
15919 @item nnimap-split-download-body
15920 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
15921 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
15923 Set to non-nil to download entire articles during splitting. This is
15924 generally not required, and will slow things down considerably. You
15925 may need it if you want to use an advanced splitting function that
15926 analyses the body to split the article.
15930 @node Expiring in IMAP
15931 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
15932 @cindex expiring imap mail
15934 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
15935 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
15936 Mail}). Unlike splitting in IMAP (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}) it do
15937 not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
15938 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
15939 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
15942 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @sc{imap} server is
15943 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
15944 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
15945 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
15946 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
15947 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
15948 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
15949 messages. Most do, fortunately.
15953 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
15954 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
15956 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
15957 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
15959 @item nnmail-expiry-target
15961 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
15962 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
15963 that if the destination is a IMAP group on the same server, the
15964 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
15968 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
15969 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
15970 @cindex editing imap acls
15971 @cindex Access Control Lists
15972 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
15974 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
15976 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
15977 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
15978 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
15981 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
15982 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
15983 editing window with detailed instructions.
15985 Some possible uses:
15989 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
15990 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
15991 follow the list without subscribing to it.
15993 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
15994 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
15995 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
15999 @node Expunging mailboxes
16000 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
16004 @cindex Manual expunging
16006 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
16008 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
16009 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
16010 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
16012 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
16015 @node A note on namespaces
16016 @subsection A note on namespaces
16017 @cindex IMAP namespace
16020 The IMAP protocol has a concept called namespaces, described by the
16021 following text in the RFC:
16024 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
16026 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
16027 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
16028 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
16029 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
16031 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
16032 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
16033 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
16034 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
16035 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
16036 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
16039 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the IMAP
16040 implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace prefixes in a way
16041 that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
16043 Specifically, University of Washington's IMAP server uses mailbox
16044 names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only in the
16045 @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is created
16046 (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed without
16047 the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do not make it
16048 possible for the user to guarantee that user entered mailbox names
16049 will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands, you should
16050 simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in Gnus.
16052 See the UoW @sc{imapd} documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
16053 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
16054 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
16056 @node Other Sources
16057 @section Other Sources
16059 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
16060 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
16064 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
16065 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
16066 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
16067 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
16068 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
16072 @node Directory Groups
16073 @subsection Directory Groups
16075 @cindex directory groups
16077 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
16078 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
16081 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
16082 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
16083 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
16084 back end to read directories. Big deal.
16086 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
16087 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
16088 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
16089 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
16090 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
16092 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
16094 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
16095 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
16096 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
16097 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
16100 @node Anything Groups
16101 @subsection Anything Groups
16104 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
16105 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
16106 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
16109 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
16110 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
16111 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
16112 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
16113 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
16114 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
16115 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
16116 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
16117 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
16118 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
16121 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
16122 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
16123 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
16124 in the article buffer, just as usual.
16126 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
16127 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
16128 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
16129 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
16131 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
16132 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
16133 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
16134 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
16135 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
16136 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
16137 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
16138 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
16143 @item nneething-map-file-directory
16144 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
16145 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
16146 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
16148 @item nneething-exclude-files
16149 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
16150 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
16151 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
16153 @item nneething-include-files
16154 @vindex nneething-include-files
16155 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
16156 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
16158 @item nneething-map-file
16159 @vindex nneething-map-file
16160 Name of the map files.
16164 @node Document Groups
16165 @subsection Document Groups
16167 @cindex documentation group
16170 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
16171 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
16178 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
16183 The standard Unix mbox file.
16185 @cindex MMDF mail box
16187 The MMDF mail box format.
16190 Several news articles appended into a file.
16193 @cindex rnews batch files
16194 The rnews batch transport format.
16195 @cindex forwarded messages
16198 Forwarded articles.
16201 Netscape mail boxes.
16204 @sc{mime} multipart messages.
16206 @item standard-digest
16207 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
16210 A @sc{mime} digest of messages.
16212 @item lanl-gov-announce
16213 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
16215 @item rfc822-forward
16216 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
16219 The Outlook mail box.
16222 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
16225 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
16228 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
16231 An RFC934-forwarded message.
16237 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
16240 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
16246 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
16247 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
16248 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
16251 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
16252 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
16253 group. And that's it.
16255 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
16256 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
16257 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
16258 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
16259 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
16260 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
16261 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
16262 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
16263 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
16264 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
16266 Virtual server variables:
16269 @item nndoc-article-type
16270 @vindex nndoc-article-type
16271 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
16272 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
16273 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
16274 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
16275 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
16277 @item nndoc-post-type
16278 @vindex nndoc-post-type
16279 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
16280 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
16285 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
16289 @node Document Server Internals
16290 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
16292 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
16293 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
16294 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
16295 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
16297 First, here's an example document type definition:
16301 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
16302 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
16305 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
16306 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
16307 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
16308 types can be defined with very few settings:
16311 @item first-article
16312 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
16313 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
16316 @item article-begin
16317 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
16318 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
16320 @item head-begin-function
16321 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
16324 @item nndoc-head-begin
16325 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
16328 @item nndoc-head-end
16329 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
16330 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
16332 @item body-begin-function
16333 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
16337 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
16340 @item body-end-function
16341 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
16345 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
16348 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
16349 regexp will be totally ignored.
16353 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
16354 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
16355 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
16356 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
16357 something that's palatable for Gnus:
16360 @item prepare-body-function
16361 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
16362 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
16363 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
16365 @item article-transform-function
16366 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
16367 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
16368 body of the article.
16370 @item generate-head-function
16371 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
16372 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
16373 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
16374 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
16378 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
16383 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16384 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16385 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
16386 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
16387 (head-end . "^ ?$")
16388 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
16389 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
16390 (subtype digest guess))
16393 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
16394 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
16395 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
16396 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
16397 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
16399 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
16400 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
16401 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
16402 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
16403 The alist is traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is
16404 called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is
16405 called to see whether a document is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on.
16406 These type predicates should return @code{nil} if the document is not
16407 of the correct type; @code{t} if it is of the correct type; and a
16408 number if the document might be of the correct type. A high number
16409 means high probability; a low number means low probability with
16410 @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
16418 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
16419 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
16420 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
16422 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
16423 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
16424 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
16427 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
16428 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
16429 that interested in doing things properly.
16431 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
16432 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
16435 First some terminology:
16440 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
16441 get news and/or mail from.
16444 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
16445 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
16448 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
16452 @item message packets
16453 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
16454 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
16455 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16457 @item response packets
16458 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
16459 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
16460 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16470 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
16471 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
16472 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
16473 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
16476 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
16479 You put the packet in your home directory.
16482 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
16483 the native or secondary server.
16486 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
16487 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
16490 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
16494 You transfer this packet to the server.
16497 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
16500 You then repeat until you die.
16504 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
16505 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
16508 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
16509 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
16510 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
16514 @node SOUP Commands
16515 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
16517 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
16521 @kindex G s b (Group)
16522 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
16523 Pack all unread articles in the current group
16524 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
16525 process/prefix convention.
16528 @kindex G s w (Group)
16529 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
16530 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
16533 @kindex G s s (Group)
16534 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
16535 Send all replies from the replies packet
16536 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
16539 @kindex G s p (Group)
16540 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
16541 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
16544 @kindex G s r (Group)
16545 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
16546 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
16549 @kindex O s (Summary)
16550 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
16551 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
16552 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
16553 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16558 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
16563 @item gnus-soup-directory
16564 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
16565 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
16566 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
16568 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
16569 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
16570 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
16571 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
16573 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
16574 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
16575 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
16576 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
16578 @item gnus-soup-packer
16579 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
16580 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16581 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
16583 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
16584 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
16585 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16586 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16588 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
16589 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
16590 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
16592 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16593 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16594 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
16595 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
16601 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
16604 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
16605 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
16606 you can read them at leisure.
16608 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
16612 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
16613 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
16614 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
16615 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
16617 @item nnsoup-directory
16618 @vindex nnsoup-directory
16619 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
16620 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
16622 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
16623 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
16624 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
16625 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/}.
16627 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
16628 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
16629 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
16630 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
16631 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
16633 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
16634 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
16635 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
16636 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
16638 @item nnsoup-active-file
16639 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
16640 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
16641 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
16642 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
16643 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
16645 @item nnsoup-packer
16646 @vindex nnsoup-packer
16647 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
16648 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
16650 @item nnsoup-unpacker
16651 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
16652 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
16653 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16655 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
16656 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
16657 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
16660 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
16661 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
16662 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
16665 @item nnsoup-always-save
16666 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
16667 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
16673 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
16675 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
16676 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
16677 more for that to happen.
16679 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
16680 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
16681 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
16684 In specific, this is what it does:
16687 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
16688 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
16691 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
16692 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
16693 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
16696 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
16697 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
16698 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
16701 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
16702 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
16703 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
16705 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
16711 @item nngateway-address
16712 @vindex nngateway-address
16713 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
16715 @item nngateway-header-transformation
16716 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
16717 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
16718 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
16719 transformation should be called, and defaults to
16720 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
16721 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
16724 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
16725 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
16726 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
16729 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
16732 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
16735 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
16738 The following pre-defined functions exist:
16740 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16743 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16744 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16745 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
16747 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16749 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16750 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16751 @code{nngateway-address}.
16756 (setq gnus-post-method
16758 "mail2news@@replay.com"
16759 (nngateway-header-transformation
16760 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
16768 So, to use this, simply say something like:
16771 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
16776 @node Combined Groups
16777 @section Combined Groups
16779 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
16783 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
16784 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
16788 @node Virtual Groups
16789 @subsection Virtual Groups
16791 @cindex virtual groups
16792 @cindex merging groups
16794 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
16797 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
16798 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
16799 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
16801 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
16802 regexp to match component groups.
16804 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
16805 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
16806 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
16807 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
16808 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
16809 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
16810 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
16811 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
16813 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
16814 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
16817 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
16820 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
16821 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
16823 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
16824 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
16825 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
16826 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
16829 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
16832 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
16833 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
16834 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
16836 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
16837 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
16838 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
16839 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
16840 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
16842 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
16843 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
16844 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
16846 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
16847 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
16848 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
16849 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
16850 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
16851 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
16852 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
16853 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
16854 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
16855 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
16856 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
16858 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
16859 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
16860 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
16861 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
16862 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
16863 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
16864 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
16866 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
16867 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
16869 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
16870 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
16874 @node Kibozed Groups
16875 @subsection Kibozed Groups
16879 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
16880 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
16881 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
16882 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
16884 @kindex G k (Group)
16885 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
16888 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
16889 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
16890 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
16891 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
16893 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
16894 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
16895 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
16897 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
16898 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
16899 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
16900 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
16901 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
16902 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
16903 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
16904 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
16906 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
16907 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
16908 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
16909 Stranger things have happened.
16911 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
16912 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
16914 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
16915 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
16916 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
16917 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
16918 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
16919 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
16921 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
16922 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
16925 @node Gnus Unplugged
16926 @section Gnus Unplugged
16931 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
16933 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
16934 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
16935 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
16936 read news. Believe it or not.
16938 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
16939 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
16940 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
16941 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
16942 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
16944 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
16945 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
16946 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
16947 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
16948 reading news on a machine.
16950 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
16951 fact, you don't even have to configure anything.
16953 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
16956 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
16957 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
16958 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
16959 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
16960 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
16961 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
16962 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
16963 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
16964 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
16965 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
16966 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
16967 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
16972 @subsection Agent Basics
16974 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
16976 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
16977 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
16978 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
16979 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
16981 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
16982 connected to the net continuously.
16984 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
16985 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
16987 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
16992 @findex gnus-unplugged
16993 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
16994 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
16995 already fetched while in this mode.
16998 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
16999 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
17000 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
17001 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
17002 Source Specifiers}).
17005 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
17006 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
17007 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
17008 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
17009 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
17012 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
17013 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
17014 then you read the news offline.
17017 And then you go to step 2.
17020 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
17026 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
17027 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
17028 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
17029 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
17030 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
17031 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
17032 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} groups in @code{gnus-select-method} and
17033 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
17037 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
17038 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
17039 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
17040 is probably best to start with a category @xref{Agent Categories}.
17042 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
17043 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
17044 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
17045 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
17046 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
17047 your policy, you can use grou parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
17051 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
17055 @node Agent Categories
17056 @subsection Agent Categories
17058 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
17059 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
17060 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
17061 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
17062 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
17063 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
17064 you're interested in the articles anyway.
17066 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
17067 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
17068 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
17069 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
17070 buffer for creating and managing categories.
17072 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
17073 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
17074 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
17075 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
17076 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
17079 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
17080 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
17081 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
17082 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
17083 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
17084 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
17088 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
17089 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
17090 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
17094 @node Category Syntax
17095 @subsubsection Category Syntax
17097 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
17098 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
17099 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
17103 @item gnus-agent-cat-name
17104 The name of the category.
17106 @item gnus-agent-cat-groups
17107 The list of groups that are in this category.
17109 @item gnus-agent-cat-predicate
17110 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
17111 are eligible for downloading; and
17113 @item gnus-agent-cat-score-file
17114 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
17115 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
17116 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
17118 @item gnus-agent-cat-enable-expiration
17119 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
17120 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
17121 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
17122 only groups that should not be expired.
17124 @item gnus-agent-cat-days-until-old
17125 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
17126 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
17128 @item gnus-agent-cat-low-score
17129 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
17131 @item gnus-agent-cat-high-score
17132 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
17134 @item gnus-agent-cat-length-when-short
17135 an integer that overrides the value of
17136 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
17138 @item gnus-agent-cat-length-when-long
17139 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
17142 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
17145 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
17146 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
17147 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
17150 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
17151 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
17152 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
17153 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
17155 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
17156 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
17157 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
17159 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
17160 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
17161 operators sprinkled in between.
17163 Perhaps some examples are in order.
17165 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
17166 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
17172 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
17173 short (for some value of ``short'').
17175 Here's a more complex predicate:
17184 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
17185 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
17188 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
17189 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
17190 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
17192 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
17193 you want to do, you can write your own.
17195 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
17196 bound to the value determined by calling
17197 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
17198 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
17199 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
17200 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
17201 predicate to individual groups.
17205 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
17206 lines; default 100.
17209 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
17210 lines; default 200.
17213 True iff the article has a download score less than
17214 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
17217 True iff the article has a download score greater than
17218 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
17221 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
17222 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
17223 checksum and sees whether articles match.
17232 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
17233 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
17234 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
17237 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
17238 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
17239 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
17240 something along the lines of the following:
17243 (defun my-article-old-p ()
17244 "Say whether an article is old."
17245 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
17246 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
17249 with the predicate then defined as:
17252 (not my-article-old-p)
17255 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
17256 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
17260 (require 'gnus-agent)
17261 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
17262 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
17263 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
17266 and simply specify your predicate as:
17272 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
17273 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
17274 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
17275 just don't give a damn.
17277 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
17278 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
17279 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
17280 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
17281 parameters like so:
17284 (agent-predicate . short)
17287 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
17288 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
17289 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
17291 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
17294 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
17297 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
17298 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
17299 predicate is assumed to be a list.
17302 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
17303 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
17304 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
17305 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
17306 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
17307 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
17309 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
17310 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
17311 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
17312 if it's to be specific to that group.
17314 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
17321 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
17322 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
17328 Category specification
17332 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17338 Group/Topic Parameter specification
17341 (agent-score ("from"
17342 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17347 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
17353 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
17354 keywords stated above.
17360 Category specification
17363 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
17369 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
17373 Group Parameter specification
17376 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
17379 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
17384 Use @code{normal} score files
17386 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
17387 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
17388 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
17389 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
17391 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
17392 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
17393 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
17394 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
17398 Category Specification
17405 Group Parameter specification
17408 (agent-score . file)
17413 @node Category Buffer
17414 @subsubsection Category Buffer
17416 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
17417 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
17418 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
17420 The following commands are available in this buffer:
17424 @kindex q (Category)
17425 @findex gnus-category-exit
17426 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
17429 @kindex e (Category)
17430 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
17431 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
17432 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
17435 @kindex k (Category)
17436 @findex gnus-category-kill
17437 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
17440 @kindex c (Category)
17441 @findex gnus-category-copy
17442 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
17445 @kindex a (Category)
17446 @findex gnus-category-add
17447 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
17450 @kindex p (Category)
17451 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
17452 Edit the predicate of the current category
17453 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
17456 @kindex g (Category)
17457 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
17458 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
17459 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
17462 @kindex s (Category)
17463 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
17464 Edit the download score rule of the current category
17465 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
17468 @kindex l (Category)
17469 @findex gnus-category-list
17470 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
17474 @node Category Variables
17475 @subsubsection Category Variables
17478 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
17479 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
17480 Hook run in category buffers.
17482 @item gnus-category-line-format
17483 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
17484 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
17485 Variables}). Valid elements are:
17489 The name of the category.
17492 The number of groups in the category.
17495 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
17496 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
17497 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
17499 @item gnus-agent-short-article
17500 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
17501 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
17503 @item gnus-agent-long-article
17504 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
17505 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
17507 @item gnus-agent-low-score
17508 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
17509 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
17512 @item gnus-agent-high-score
17513 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
17514 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
17517 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
17518 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
17519 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
17520 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
17521 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
17522 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
17523 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
17524 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
17528 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
17529 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
17530 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
17531 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
17532 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
17533 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
17534 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
17539 @node Agent Commands
17540 @subsection Agent Commands
17541 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
17542 @kindex J j (Agent)
17544 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
17545 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
17546 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
17550 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
17551 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
17552 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
17558 @node Group Agent Commands
17559 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
17563 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
17564 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
17565 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
17566 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
17569 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
17570 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
17571 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
17574 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
17575 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
17576 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
17577 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
17580 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
17581 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
17582 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
17583 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
17586 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
17587 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
17588 Add the current group to an Agent category
17589 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
17590 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17593 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
17594 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
17595 Remove the current group from its category, if any
17596 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
17597 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17600 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
17601 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17602 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
17608 @node Summary Agent Commands
17609 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
17613 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
17614 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
17615 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
17618 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
17619 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
17620 Remove the downloading mark from the article
17621 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
17625 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
17626 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
17627 Toggle whether to download the article
17628 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The dowload mark is @samp{%} by
17632 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
17633 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
17634 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
17637 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
17638 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
17639 Download all eligible (See @pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
17640 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
17643 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
17644 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-series
17645 Download all processable articles in this group.
17646 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-series}).
17649 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
17650 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
17651 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
17652 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
17657 @node Server Agent Commands
17658 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
17662 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
17663 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
17664 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
17665 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
17668 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
17669 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
17670 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
17671 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
17676 @node Agent as Cache
17677 @subsection Agent as Cache
17679 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
17680 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
17681 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
17682 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
17683 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
17684 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
17685 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
17686 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
17687 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
17689 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
17690 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
17691 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
17692 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
17693 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap backend.
17696 @subsection Agent Expiry
17698 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
17699 @findex gnus-agent-expire
17700 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
17701 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
17702 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
17703 @cindex Agent expiry
17704 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
17707 The Agent backend, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
17708 least it doesn't handle it like other backends. Instead, there are
17709 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
17710 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
17711 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
17712 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
17713 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
17714 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
17716 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
17717 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
17718 synchronized with the group.
17720 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
17721 prevent expiration in selected groups.
17723 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
17724 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
17725 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
17726 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
17727 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
17728 be kept indefinitely.
17730 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
17731 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
17732 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
17733 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
17735 @node Agent Regeneration
17736 @subsection Agent Regeneration
17738 @cindex Agent Regeneration
17739 @cindex Gnus Agent Regeneration
17740 @cindex regeneration
17742 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
17743 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
17744 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
17745 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
17746 internal inconsistencies.
17748 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
17749 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
17750 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
17751 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
17752 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
17753 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
17755 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
17756 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
17757 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
17758 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
17759 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
17760 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
17762 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
17763 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
17764 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
17765 of individual articles to repair the local NOV(header) database. It
17766 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
17767 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
17770 @node Agent and IMAP
17771 @subsection Agent and IMAP
17773 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
17774 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
17775 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
17776 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
17778 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
17779 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @file{.newsrc} as is the
17780 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
17781 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
17783 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
17784 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
17785 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
17786 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
17788 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17789 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
17790 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
17791 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
17792 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
17793 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
17795 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
17796 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
17797 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
17798 in the group buffer.
17800 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
17801 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
17806 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
17809 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
17813 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
17814 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
17815 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
17816 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
17817 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
17818 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
17819 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
17820 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
17823 @node Outgoing Messages
17824 @subsection Outgoing Messages
17826 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
17827 stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view
17828 them there after posting, and edit them at will.
17830 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
17831 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
17832 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
17833 messages in the draft group.
17837 @node Agent Variables
17838 @subsection Agent Variables
17841 @item gnus-agent-directory
17842 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
17843 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
17844 @file{~/News/agent/}.
17846 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
17847 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
17848 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
17849 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
17850 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
17853 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
17854 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
17855 Hook run when connecting to the network.
17857 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
17858 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
17859 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
17861 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
17862 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
17863 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
17865 @item gnus-agent-cache
17866 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
17867 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @sc{nov} and
17868 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
17869 The default is non-nil, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
17871 @item gnus-agent-go-online
17872 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
17873 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
17874 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
17875 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
17876 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
17877 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
17880 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
17881 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
17882 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
17883 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
17884 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
17885 read. The default is t.
17887 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
17888 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
17889 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
17890 agent will fetch all missing headers. When @code{nil}, the agent will
17891 fetch only new headers. The default is @code{nil}.
17893 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
17894 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
17895 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
17896 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
17897 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
17898 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
17899 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
17900 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
17901 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
17902 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
17903 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
17904 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
17907 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
17908 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
17909 Perhaps not a Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
17910 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
17911 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
17912 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
17913 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
17914 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
17915 is only valid if the Agent is used.
17917 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
17918 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
17919 Another variable that isn't a Agent variable, yet so closely related
17920 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
17921 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
17922 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
17924 The legal values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
17925 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
17926 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
17927 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
17928 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
17933 @node Example Setup
17934 @subsection Example Setup
17936 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
17937 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
17938 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
17941 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
17942 ;;; from your ISP's server.
17943 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
17945 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
17946 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
17947 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
17949 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
17950 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
17952 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
17953 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; The obsolete setting.
17954 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; Now the default.
17957 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
17958 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
17961 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
17962 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
17963 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
17964 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
17965 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
17968 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
17969 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
17970 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
17971 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
17972 back all the killed groups.)
17974 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
17975 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
17976 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
17979 @node Batching Agents
17980 @subsection Batching Agents
17981 @findex gnus-agent-batch
17983 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
17984 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
17985 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
17987 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
17988 following incantation:
17992 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f -l ~/.gnus.el gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
17996 @node Agent Caveats
17997 @subsection Agent Caveats
17999 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
18000 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
18004 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
18006 @strong{No}. If you want this behaviour, add
18007 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
18008 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
18010 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
18011 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
18013 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
18017 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
18018 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
18019 locally stored articles.
18026 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
18027 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
18028 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
18031 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
18032 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
18033 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
18034 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
18035 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
18037 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
18038 before generating the summary buffer.
18040 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
18041 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
18042 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
18044 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
18045 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
18046 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
18047 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
18050 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
18051 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
18052 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
18053 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
18054 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
18055 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
18056 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
18057 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
18058 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
18059 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
18060 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
18061 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
18062 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
18063 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
18064 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
18065 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
18066 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
18070 @node Summary Score Commands
18071 @section Summary Score Commands
18072 @cindex score commands
18074 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
18075 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
18076 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
18077 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
18078 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
18080 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
18081 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
18082 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
18083 score file the current one.
18085 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
18090 @kindex V s (Summary)
18091 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
18092 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
18095 @kindex V S (Summary)
18096 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
18097 Display the score of the current article
18098 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
18101 @kindex V t (Summary)
18102 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
18103 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
18104 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
18107 @kindex V w (Summary)
18108 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
18109 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
18112 @kindex V R (Summary)
18113 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
18114 Run the current summary through the scoring process
18115 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
18116 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
18117 effect you're having.
18120 @kindex V c (Summary)
18121 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
18122 Make a different score file the current
18123 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
18126 @kindex V e (Summary)
18127 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
18128 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
18129 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
18133 @kindex V f (Summary)
18134 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
18135 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
18136 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
18139 @kindex V F (Summary)
18140 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18141 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
18142 after editing score files.
18145 @kindex V C (Summary)
18146 @findex gnus-score-customize
18147 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
18148 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
18152 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
18157 @kindex V m (Summary)
18158 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
18159 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
18160 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
18163 @kindex V x (Summary)
18164 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
18165 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
18166 expunge all articles below this score
18167 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
18170 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
18171 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
18174 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
18175 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
18179 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
18180 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
18182 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
18183 keys are available:
18187 Score on the author name.
18190 Score on the subject line.
18193 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
18196 Score on the @code{References} line.
18202 Score on the number of lines.
18205 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
18208 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
18209 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
18212 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
18213 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
18214 @file{ADAPT} files.)
18223 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
18229 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
18230 what headers you are scoring on.
18242 Substring matching.
18245 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
18274 Greater than number.
18279 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
18280 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
18281 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
18286 Temporary score entry.
18289 Permanent score entry.
18292 Immediately scoring.
18296 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
18297 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
18298 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
18302 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
18303 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
18304 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
18305 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
18307 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
18308 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
18309 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
18310 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
18311 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
18313 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
18314 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
18315 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
18316 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
18317 current score file.
18319 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
18320 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
18321 pretend they are keymaps or not.
18324 @node Group Score Commands
18325 @section Group Score Commands
18326 @cindex group score commands
18328 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
18333 @kindex W f (Group)
18334 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18335 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
18336 all the time. This command will flush the cache
18337 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
18341 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
18343 @findex gnus-batch-score
18344 @cindex batch scoring
18346 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
18350 @node Score Variables
18351 @section Score Variables
18352 @cindex score variables
18356 @item gnus-use-scoring
18357 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
18358 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
18359 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
18361 @item gnus-kill-killed
18362 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
18363 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
18364 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
18365 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
18366 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
18367 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
18368 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
18370 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
18371 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
18372 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
18373 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
18374 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
18376 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
18377 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
18378 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
18379 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
18381 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
18382 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
18383 @cindex score cache
18384 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
18385 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
18386 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
18387 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
18388 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
18389 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
18390 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
18393 @item gnus-save-score
18394 @vindex gnus-save-score
18395 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
18396 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
18397 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
18399 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
18400 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
18401 across group visits.
18403 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
18404 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
18405 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
18406 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
18407 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
18408 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
18409 manually entered data.
18411 @item gnus-summary-default-score
18412 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
18413 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
18415 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
18416 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
18417 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
18418 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
18419 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
18420 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
18422 @item gnus-score-over-mark
18423 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
18424 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
18425 default. Default is @samp{+}.
18427 @item gnus-score-below-mark
18428 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
18429 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
18430 default. Default is @samp{-}.
18432 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
18433 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
18434 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
18435 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
18437 Predefined functions available are:
18440 @item gnus-score-find-single
18441 @findex gnus-score-find-single
18442 Only apply the group's own score file.
18444 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
18445 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
18446 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
18447 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
18448 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
18449 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
18450 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
18451 then a regexp match is done.
18453 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
18454 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
18456 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
18457 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
18458 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
18459 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
18461 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
18462 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
18463 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
18464 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
18465 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
18469 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
18470 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
18471 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
18472 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
18473 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
18474 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
18475 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
18478 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
18479 overall score file, you could use the value
18481 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
18482 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
18485 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
18486 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
18487 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
18488 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
18489 are expired. It's 7 by default.
18491 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
18492 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
18493 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
18494 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
18495 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
18496 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
18497 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
18498 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
18500 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
18501 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
18502 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
18504 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
18505 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
18506 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
18507 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
18508 threading---according to the current value of
18509 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
18510 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
18511 simplified in this manner.
18516 @node Score File Format
18517 @section Score File Format
18518 @cindex score file format
18520 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
18521 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
18522 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
18524 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
18528 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
18530 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
18532 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
18534 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
18539 (mark-and-expunge -10)
18543 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
18544 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
18545 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
18546 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
18550 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
18551 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
18553 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
18554 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
18555 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
18557 Six keys are supported by this alist:
18562 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
18563 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
18564 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
18565 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
18566 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
18567 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
18568 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
18569 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
18570 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
18571 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
18572 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
18573 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
18574 to articles that matches these score entries.
18576 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
18577 score entry has one to four elements.
18581 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
18582 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
18586 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
18587 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
18588 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
18589 is successful. If this element is not present, the
18590 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
18591 instead. This is 1000 by default.
18594 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
18595 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
18596 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
18597 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
18598 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
18601 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
18602 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
18603 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
18604 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
18607 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
18608 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
18609 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
18610 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
18611 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
18612 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
18613 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
18614 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
18615 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
18616 instead, if you feel like.
18619 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
18620 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
18621 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
18622 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
18623 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin host,
18624 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks NNTP-Posting-Host in overviews:
18627 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s "NNTP-Posting-Host")
18631 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
18632 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
18634 These predicates are true if
18637 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
18640 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
18641 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
18648 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
18649 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
18650 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
18651 it's not. I think.)
18653 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
18654 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
18655 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
18656 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
18659 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
18660 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
18661 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
18662 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
18663 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
18664 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
18665 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
18669 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
18670 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
18671 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
18672 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
18673 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
18674 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
18675 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
18676 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
18679 @item Head, Body, All
18680 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
18684 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
18685 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
18686 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
18687 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
18688 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
18689 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
18690 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
18694 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
18695 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
18696 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
18697 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
18698 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
18699 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
18700 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
18701 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
18702 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
18703 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
18704 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
18708 @cindex Score File Atoms
18710 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18711 lower than this number will be marked as read.
18714 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18715 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
18717 @item mark-and-expunge
18718 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18719 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
18722 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
18723 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
18724 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
18725 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
18726 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
18729 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
18730 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
18733 @item exclude-files
18734 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
18735 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
18739 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
18740 ignored when handling global score files.
18743 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
18744 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
18745 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
18746 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
18749 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
18750 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
18751 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
18752 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
18754 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
18758 (mark-and-expunge -100)
18761 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
18762 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
18763 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
18764 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
18765 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
18767 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
18768 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
18769 scoring rules exist.
18772 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
18773 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
18774 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
18775 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
18776 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
18777 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
18778 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
18779 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
18780 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
18781 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
18782 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
18786 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
18787 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
18788 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
18789 file for a number of groups.
18792 @cindex local variables
18793 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
18794 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
18795 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
18796 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
18797 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
18802 @node Score File Editing
18803 @section Score File Editing
18805 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
18806 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
18807 with a mode for that.
18809 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
18810 additional commands:
18815 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
18816 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
18817 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
18818 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
18821 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
18822 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
18823 Insert the current date in numerical format
18824 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
18825 you were wondering.
18828 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
18829 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
18830 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
18831 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
18832 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
18837 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
18839 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
18840 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
18842 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
18843 e} to begin editing score files.
18846 @node Adaptive Scoring
18847 @section Adaptive Scoring
18848 @cindex adaptive scoring
18850 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
18851 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
18852 stupidity, to be precise.
18854 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
18855 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
18856 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
18857 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
18858 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
18859 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
18860 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
18861 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
18862 variable to @code{(word line)}.
18864 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
18865 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
18866 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
18867 might look something like this:
18870 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
18871 '((gnus-unread-mark)
18872 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
18873 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
18874 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
18875 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
18876 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
18877 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
18878 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
18879 (gnus-ancient-mark)
18880 (gnus-low-score-mark)
18881 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
18884 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
18885 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
18886 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
18887 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
18888 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
18889 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
18892 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
18893 will be applied to each article.
18895 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
18896 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
18897 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
18898 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
18900 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
18901 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
18902 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
18903 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
18905 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
18906 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
18907 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
18908 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
18910 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
18911 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
18912 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
18913 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
18914 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
18915 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
18917 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
18918 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
18919 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
18921 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
18922 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
18923 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
18925 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
18926 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
18927 let you use different rules in different groups.
18929 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
18930 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
18931 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
18934 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
18935 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
18936 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
18937 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
18938 the length of the match is less than
18939 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
18940 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
18943 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18944 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
18945 headers. If you adapt on words, the
18946 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
18947 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
18950 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18951 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
18952 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
18953 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
18954 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
18957 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
18958 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
18959 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
18960 score with 30 points.
18962 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
18963 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
18964 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
18965 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
18966 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
18968 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
18969 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
18970 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
18971 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
18972 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
18974 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
18975 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
18976 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
18977 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
18979 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
18980 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
18981 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
18982 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
18984 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
18985 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
18986 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
18987 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
18988 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
18990 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
18991 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
18992 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
18994 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
18995 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
18996 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
18997 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
19000 @node Home Score File
19001 @section Home Score File
19003 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
19004 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
19005 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
19006 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
19008 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
19009 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
19010 could perhaps use the same home score file.
19012 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
19013 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
19018 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
19022 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
19023 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
19027 A list. The elements in this list can be:
19031 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
19032 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
19035 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
19036 the home score file.
19039 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
19042 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
19047 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
19050 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19051 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
19054 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
19055 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
19057 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
19059 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19060 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
19063 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
19064 Other functions include
19067 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
19068 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
19069 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
19070 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
19074 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
19075 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
19076 their own home score files:
19079 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19080 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
19081 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
19082 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
19083 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
19086 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
19087 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
19088 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
19089 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
19090 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
19092 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
19093 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
19094 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
19095 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
19096 precedence over this variable.
19099 @node Followups To Yourself
19100 @section Followups To Yourself
19102 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
19103 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
19104 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
19105 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
19106 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
19107 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
19111 @item gnus-score-followup-article
19112 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
19113 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
19116 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
19117 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
19118 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
19122 @vindex message-sent-hook
19123 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
19124 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
19126 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
19130 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
19131 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
19135 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19136 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19139 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
19140 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
19145 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
19149 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
19150 is system-dependent.
19153 @node Scoring On Other Headers
19154 @section Scoring On Other Headers
19155 @cindex scoring on other headers
19157 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
19158 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
19159 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
19160 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
19161 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
19163 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
19164 mail groups, you have greater control. In the @pxref{To From
19165 Newsgroups} section of the manual, it's explained in greater detail what
19166 this mechanism does, but here's a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on
19167 how to allow scoring on the @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
19169 Put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
19172 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
19173 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
19176 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
19177 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
19178 time if you have much mail.
19180 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
19181 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
19187 @section Scoring Tips
19188 @cindex scoring tips
19194 @cindex scoring crossposts
19195 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
19196 the @code{Xref} header.
19198 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
19201 @item Multiple crossposts
19202 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
19203 more than, say, 3 groups:
19206 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
19210 @item Matching on the body
19211 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
19212 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
19213 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
19214 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
19215 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
19216 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
19217 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
19220 @item Marking as read
19221 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
19222 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
19223 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
19227 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
19229 @item Negated character classes
19230 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
19231 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
19232 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
19236 @node Reverse Scoring
19237 @section Reverse Scoring
19238 @cindex reverse scoring
19240 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
19241 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
19242 like this in your score file:
19246 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
19251 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
19252 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
19255 @node Global Score Files
19256 @section Global Score Files
19257 @cindex global score files
19259 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
19260 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
19261 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
19263 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
19264 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
19265 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
19267 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
19268 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
19269 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
19270 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
19271 files are applicable to which group.
19273 To use the score file
19274 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
19275 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
19279 (setq gnus-global-score-files
19280 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
19281 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
19284 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
19286 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
19287 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
19288 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
19289 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
19291 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
19292 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
19294 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
19295 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
19296 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
19297 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
19298 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
19299 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
19301 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
19307 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
19309 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
19311 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
19313 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
19314 lowered out of existence.
19316 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
19317 articles completely.
19320 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
19321 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
19322 old articles for a long time.
19325 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
19326 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
19327 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
19328 holding our breath yet?
19332 @section Kill Files
19335 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
19336 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
19337 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
19339 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
19340 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
19341 files into score files.
19343 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
19344 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
19345 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
19346 that isn't a very good idea.
19348 Normal kill files look like this:
19351 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19352 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
19356 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
19357 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
19359 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
19360 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
19363 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
19368 @kindex M-k (Summary)
19369 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
19370 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
19373 @kindex M-K (Summary)
19374 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
19375 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
19378 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
19383 @kindex M-k (Group)
19384 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
19385 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
19388 @kindex M-K (Group)
19389 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
19390 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
19393 Kill file variables:
19396 @item gnus-kill-file-name
19397 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
19398 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
19399 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
19400 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
19401 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
19402 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
19404 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
19405 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
19406 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
19407 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
19410 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
19411 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
19412 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
19413 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
19414 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
19415 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
19416 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
19417 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
19418 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
19420 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
19421 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
19422 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
19427 @node Converting Kill Files
19428 @section Converting Kill Files
19430 @cindex converting kill files
19432 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
19433 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
19434 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
19437 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
19438 You can fetch it from
19439 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
19441 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
19442 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
19443 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
19451 GroupLens (@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/}) is a
19452 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
19453 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
19454 news articles generated every day.
19456 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
19457 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
19458 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
19459 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
19460 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
19461 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
19462 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
19463 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
19466 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
19467 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
19470 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
19471 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
19472 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
19473 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
19477 @node Using GroupLens
19478 @subsection Using GroupLens
19480 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
19482 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
19483 better bit in town at the moment.
19485 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
19489 @item gnus-use-grouplens
19490 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
19491 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
19492 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
19494 @item grouplens-pseudonym
19495 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
19496 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
19497 with the Better Bit Bureau.
19499 @item grouplens-newsgroups
19500 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
19501 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
19505 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
19506 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
19507 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
19508 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
19509 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
19510 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
19513 @node Rating Articles
19514 @subsection Rating Articles
19516 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
19517 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
19518 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
19519 yourself is, ``on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
19522 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
19527 @kindex r (GroupLens)
19528 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
19529 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
19532 @kindex k (GroupLens)
19533 @findex grouplens-score-thread
19534 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
19535 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
19536 threads in rec.humor.
19540 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
19541 the score of the article you're reading.
19546 @kindex n (GroupLens)
19547 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
19548 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
19551 @kindex , (GroupLens)
19552 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
19553 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
19557 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
19558 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
19561 @node Displaying Predictions
19562 @subsection Displaying Predictions
19564 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
19565 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
19566 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
19567 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
19568 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
19570 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
19571 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
19572 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
19573 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
19574 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
19575 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
19576 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
19577 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
19578 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
19579 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
19580 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
19581 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
19582 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
19584 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
19585 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
19586 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
19587 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
19589 The following are valid values for that variable.
19592 @item prediction-spot
19593 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
19596 @item confidence-interval
19597 A numeric confidence interval.
19599 @item prediction-bar
19600 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
19602 @item confidence-bar
19603 Numerical confidence.
19605 @item confidence-spot
19606 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
19608 @item prediction-num
19609 Plain-old numeric value.
19611 @item confidence-plus-minus
19612 Prediction +/- confidence.
19617 @node GroupLens Variables
19618 @subsection GroupLens Variables
19622 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
19623 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
19624 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
19625 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
19628 @item grouplens-bbb-host
19629 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
19632 @item grouplens-bbb-port
19633 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
19635 @item grouplens-score-offset
19636 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
19637 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
19640 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
19641 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
19642 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
19647 @node Advanced Scoring
19648 @section Advanced Scoring
19650 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
19651 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
19652 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
19653 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
19654 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
19656 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
19660 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
19661 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
19662 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
19666 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
19667 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
19669 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
19670 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
19671 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
19672 non-@code{nil} value.
19674 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
19675 operator, and various match operators.
19682 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
19683 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
19684 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
19689 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
19690 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
19691 then this operator will return @code{false}.
19696 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
19697 logical negation of the value of its argument.
19701 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
19702 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
19703 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
19704 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
19705 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
19706 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
19707 the ancestry you want to go.
19709 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
19710 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
19711 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
19712 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
19713 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
19716 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
19717 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
19719 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
19720 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
19723 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
19724 when he's talking about Gnus:
19728 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19729 ("subject" "Gnus"))
19735 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
19739 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19746 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
19747 really don't want to read what he's written:
19751 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19752 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
19756 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
19757 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
19758 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
19765 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
19766 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
19767 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
19768 ("body" "white.*socks"))
19772 The possibilities are endless.
19775 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
19776 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
19778 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
19779 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
19780 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
19781 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
19782 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
19783 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
19784 @samp{subject}) first.
19786 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
19787 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
19798 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
19799 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
19805 ("subject" "Gnus")))
19812 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
19813 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
19818 @section Score Decays
19819 @cindex score decays
19822 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
19823 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
19824 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
19825 use them in any sensible way.
19827 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
19828 @findex gnus-decay-score
19829 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
19830 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
19831 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
19832 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
19833 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
19834 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
19835 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
19836 definition of that function:
19839 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
19841 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
19842 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
19845 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
19847 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
19849 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
19852 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
19853 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
19854 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
19855 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
19859 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
19862 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
19865 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
19869 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
19870 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
19871 the new score, which should be an integer.
19873 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
19874 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
19879 @include message.texi
19880 @chapter Emacs MIME
19881 @include emacs-mime.texi
19883 @include sieve.texi
19885 @c @include pgg.texi
19893 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
19894 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
19895 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
19896 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
19897 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
19898 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
19899 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
19900 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
19901 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
19902 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
19903 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
19904 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
19905 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
19906 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
19907 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
19908 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
19909 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
19910 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
19911 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
19915 @node Process/Prefix
19916 @section Process/Prefix
19917 @cindex process/prefix convention
19919 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
19920 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
19922 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
19923 command to be performed on.
19927 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
19928 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
19929 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
19930 with the current one.
19932 @vindex transient-mark-mode
19933 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
19934 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
19936 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
19937 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
19940 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
19941 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
19943 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
19946 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
19947 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
19948 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
19949 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
19951 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
19952 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
19953 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
19954 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
19955 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
19956 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
19957 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
19958 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
19960 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
19961 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
19962 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
19963 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
19964 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
19968 @section Interactive
19969 @cindex interaction
19973 @item gnus-novice-user
19974 @vindex gnus-novice-user
19975 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
19976 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
19977 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
19978 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
19981 @item gnus-expert-user
19982 @vindex gnus-expert-user
19983 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
19984 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
19985 matter how strange.
19987 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
19988 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
19989 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
19990 is @code{t} by default.
19992 @item gnus-interactive-exit
19993 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
19994 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
19999 @node Symbolic Prefixes
20000 @section Symbolic Prefixes
20001 @cindex symbolic prefixes
20003 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
20004 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
20005 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
20006 rule of 900 to the current article.
20008 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
20009 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
20010 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
20011 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
20012 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
20013 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
20014 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
20016 @kindex M-i (Summary)
20017 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
20018 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
20019 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
20020 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
20021 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
20022 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
20023 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
20024 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
20026 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
20027 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
20028 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
20030 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
20034 @node Formatting Variables
20035 @section Formatting Variables
20036 @cindex formatting variables
20038 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
20039 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
20040 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
20041 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
20042 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
20045 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
20046 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
20047 lots of percentages everywhere.
20050 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
20051 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
20052 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
20053 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
20054 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
20055 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
20056 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
20057 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
20060 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
20061 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
20062 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
20063 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
20064 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
20065 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
20066 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
20067 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
20069 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
20070 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
20072 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
20073 @findex gnus-update-format
20074 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
20075 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
20076 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
20077 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
20081 @node Formatting Basics
20082 @subsection Formatting Basics
20084 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
20085 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
20086 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
20088 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
20089 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
20090 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
20091 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
20092 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
20095 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
20096 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
20097 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
20098 less than 4 characters wide.
20100 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
20101 @samp{%&user-date;}.
20104 @node Mode Line Formatting
20105 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
20107 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
20108 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
20109 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
20110 with the following two differences:
20115 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
20118 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
20119 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
20120 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
20121 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
20122 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
20123 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
20124 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
20129 @node Advanced Formatting
20130 @subsection Advanced Formatting
20132 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
20133 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
20134 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
20135 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
20137 These are the valid modifiers:
20142 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
20146 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
20151 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
20154 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
20159 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
20162 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
20165 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
20168 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
20174 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
20179 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
20180 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
20181 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
20182 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
20183 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
20184 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
20185 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
20187 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
20188 last operation, padding.
20190 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
20191 If @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} is set to @code{nil} (@code{t} by
20192 default) with your strong personality, and use a lots of these advanced
20193 thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets quite slow. This can be helped
20194 enormously by running @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with
20195 the look of your lines.
20196 @xref{Compilation}.
20199 @node User-Defined Specs
20200 @subsection User-Defined Specs
20202 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
20203 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
20204 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
20205 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
20206 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
20207 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
20208 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
20209 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
20210 should protect against that.
20212 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
20213 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
20215 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
20216 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
20217 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
20218 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
20222 @node Formatting Fonts
20223 @subsection Formatting Fonts
20225 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
20226 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
20227 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
20228 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
20231 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
20232 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
20233 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
20234 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
20235 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
20236 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
20238 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
20239 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
20240 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
20241 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
20242 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
20243 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
20244 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
20245 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
20246 (in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
20247 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
20248 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
20251 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
20254 ;; Create three face types.
20255 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
20256 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
20258 ;; We want the article count to be in
20259 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
20260 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
20261 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
20263 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
20264 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
20266 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
20267 (setq gnus-group-line-format
20268 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
20271 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
20272 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
20274 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
20275 mode-line variables.
20277 @node Positioning Point
20278 @subsection Positioning Point
20280 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
20281 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
20282 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
20284 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
20286 @findex gnus-goto-colon
20287 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
20288 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
20290 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
20291 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
20292 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
20297 @subsection Tabulation
20299 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
20300 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
20301 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
20302 about lining up the following text afterwards.
20304 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs--@samp{%=}. There are two
20305 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
20307 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20308 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
20309 This is the soft tabulator.
20311 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20312 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
20313 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
20316 @node Wide Characters
20317 @subsection Wide Characters
20319 Proportional fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
20320 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
20321 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
20323 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
20324 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
20325 these countries, that's not true.
20327 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
20328 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
20329 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
20330 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
20334 @node Window Layout
20335 @section Window Layout
20336 @cindex window layout
20338 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
20340 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
20341 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
20342 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
20343 @code{t} by default.
20345 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
20346 glitches. Use at your own peril.
20348 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
20349 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
20350 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
20353 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
20354 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
20355 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20359 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
20360 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
20361 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
20362 possible names is listed below.
20364 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
20365 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
20368 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20372 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
20373 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
20374 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
20375 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
20376 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
20377 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
20378 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
20379 size spec per split.
20381 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
20382 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
20383 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
20384 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
20385 present) gets focus.
20387 Here's a more complicated example:
20390 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
20391 (summary 0.25 point)
20392 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
20396 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
20397 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
20398 occupy, not a percentage.
20400 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
20401 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
20402 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
20403 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
20404 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
20407 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
20410 (article (horizontal 1.0
20415 (summary 0.25 point)
20420 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
20421 @code{horizontal} thingie?
20423 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
20424 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
20425 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
20426 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
20427 the screen is to be given to this strip.
20429 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
20430 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
20431 lines from the splits.
20433 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
20437 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
20438 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
20439 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
20440 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
20441 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
20442 size = number | frame-params
20443 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
20446 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
20447 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
20448 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
20449 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
20451 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
20452 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
20453 @cindex window height
20454 @cindex window width
20455 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
20456 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
20457 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
20458 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
20459 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
20460 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
20462 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
20463 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
20464 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
20465 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
20467 @findex gnus-configure-frame
20468 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
20469 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
20470 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
20471 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
20472 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
20473 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
20474 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
20475 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
20476 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
20477 configuration list.
20480 (gnus-configure-frame
20484 (article 0.3 point))
20492 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
20493 @code{frame} split:
20496 (gnus-configure-frame
20499 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
20501 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
20502 (user-position . t)
20503 (left . -1) (top . 1))
20508 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
20509 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
20510 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
20511 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
20512 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
20513 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
20514 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
20515 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
20517 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
20518 be found in its default value.
20520 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
20521 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
20522 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
20526 (message (horizontal 1.0
20527 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
20529 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
20534 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
20535 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
20536 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
20541 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
20542 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
20543 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
20544 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
20545 (name . "Message"))
20546 (message 1.0 point))))
20549 @findex gnus-add-configuration
20550 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
20551 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
20552 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
20553 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
20556 (gnus-add-configuration
20557 '(article (vertical 1.0
20559 (summary .25 point)
20563 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
20564 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
20565 Gnus has been loaded.
20567 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
20568 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
20569 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
20570 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
20571 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
20573 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
20574 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
20575 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
20578 @subsection Example Window Configurations
20582 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
20583 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
20598 (gnus-add-configuration
20601 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
20603 (summary 0.16 point)
20606 (gnus-add-configuration
20609 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
20610 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
20616 @node Faces and Fonts
20617 @section Faces and Fonts
20622 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
20623 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
20624 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
20629 @section Compilation
20630 @cindex compilation
20631 @cindex byte-compilation
20633 @findex gnus-compile
20635 Remember all those line format specification variables?
20636 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
20637 on. By default, T-gnus will use the byte-compiled codes of these
20638 variables and we can keep a slow-down to a minimum. However, if you set
20639 @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} to @code{nil} (@code{t} by default),
20640 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
20641 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
20642 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
20645 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
20646 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
20647 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
20648 you'll get top speed again. Note that T-gnus will not save these
20649 compiled specs in the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
20652 @item gnus-compile-user-specs
20653 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
20654 If it is non-nil, the user-defined format specs will be byte-compiled
20655 automatically. The default value of this variable is @code{t}. It has
20656 an effect on the values of @code{gnus-*-line-format-spec}.
20661 @section Mode Lines
20664 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
20665 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
20666 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
20667 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
20668 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
20669 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
20670 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
20673 @cindex display-time
20675 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
20676 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
20677 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
20678 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
20679 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
20680 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
20681 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
20682 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
20685 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
20687 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
20688 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
20690 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
20691 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
20692 (length display-time-string)))))
20695 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
20696 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
20697 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
20698 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
20699 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
20702 @node Highlighting and Menus
20703 @section Highlighting and Menus
20705 @cindex highlighting
20708 @vindex gnus-visual
20709 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
20710 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
20711 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
20714 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
20715 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
20718 @item group-highlight
20719 Do highlights in the group buffer.
20720 @item summary-highlight
20721 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
20722 @item article-highlight
20723 Do highlights in the article buffer.
20725 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
20727 Create menus in the group buffer.
20729 Create menus in the summary buffers.
20731 Create menus in the article buffer.
20733 Create menus in the browse buffer.
20735 Create menus in the server buffer.
20737 Create menus in the score buffers.
20739 Create menus in all buffers.
20742 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
20743 buffers, you could say something like:
20746 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
20749 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
20752 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
20755 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
20756 in all Gnus buffers.
20758 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
20761 @item gnus-mouse-face
20762 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
20763 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
20764 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
20768 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
20772 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
20773 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
20774 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
20776 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
20777 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
20778 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
20780 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
20781 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
20782 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
20784 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
20785 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
20786 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
20788 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
20789 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
20790 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
20792 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
20793 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
20794 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
20805 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
20806 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
20807 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
20808 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
20809 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
20813 @vindex gnus-carpal
20814 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
20815 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
20816 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
20821 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
20822 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
20823 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
20825 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
20826 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
20827 Face used on buttons.
20829 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
20830 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
20831 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
20833 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
20834 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
20835 Buttons in the group buffer.
20837 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
20838 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
20839 Buttons in the summary buffer.
20841 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
20842 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
20843 Buttons in the server buffer.
20845 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
20846 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
20847 Buttons in the browse buffer.
20850 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
20851 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
20852 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
20860 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
20861 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
20862 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
20863 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
20864 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
20866 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
20867 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
20868 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
20870 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
20871 been idle for thirty minutes:
20874 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
20877 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
20881 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
20884 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
20885 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
20886 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
20888 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
20889 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
20890 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
20891 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
20893 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
20894 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
20895 @var{idle} minutes.
20897 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
20898 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
20901 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
20902 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
20903 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
20905 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
20906 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
20907 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
20908 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
20910 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
20911 your @file{.gnus.el} file:
20913 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
20915 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
20918 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
20919 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
20920 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
20921 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
20922 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
20923 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
20924 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
20925 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
20926 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
20927 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
20928 @file{.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
20930 @findex gnus-demon-init
20931 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
20932 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
20933 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
20934 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
20935 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
20937 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
20938 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
20939 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
20948 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
20949 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
20951 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
20952 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
20953 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
20954 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
20957 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
20958 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
20959 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
20960 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
20962 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
20963 this will make spam disappear.
20965 There are some variables to customize, of course:
20968 @item gnus-use-nocem
20969 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
20970 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
20973 @item gnus-nocem-groups
20974 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
20975 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
20976 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
20977 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
20979 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
20980 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
20981 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
20982 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
20983 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
20984 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
20986 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
20987 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
20989 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
20990 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
20991 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
20992 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
20993 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
20994 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
20995 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
20996 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
20997 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
20998 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
21000 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
21001 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
21004 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
21007 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
21008 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
21011 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
21014 The specs are applied left-to-right.
21017 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
21018 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
21020 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
21021 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
21022 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
21023 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
21025 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
21026 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
21029 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
21031 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
21039 This might be dangerous, though.
21041 @item gnus-nocem-directory
21042 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
21043 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
21044 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
21046 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21047 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21048 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
21049 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
21050 might then see old spam.
21052 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
21053 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
21054 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
21055 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
21056 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
21059 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21060 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21061 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
21062 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
21066 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
21067 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
21068 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
21069 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
21076 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
21077 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
21078 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
21080 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
21081 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
21082 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
21083 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
21084 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
21085 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
21086 @code{undo} function.
21088 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
21089 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
21090 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
21091 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
21092 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
21093 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
21094 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
21095 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
21096 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
21097 never be totally undoable.
21099 @findex gnus-undo-mode
21100 @vindex gnus-use-undo
21102 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
21103 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
21104 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
21105 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
21109 @node Predicate Specifiers
21110 @section Predicate Specifiers
21111 @cindex predicate specifiers
21113 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
21114 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
21115 to type all that much.
21117 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
21122 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
21123 gnus-article-unread-p)
21126 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
21127 functions all take one parameter.
21129 @findex gnus-make-predicate
21130 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
21131 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
21132 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
21137 @section Moderation
21140 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
21141 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
21142 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
21145 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
21149 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
21152 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
21154 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
21159 You split your incoming mail by matching on
21160 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
21161 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
21164 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
21165 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
21168 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
21169 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
21173 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
21176 (setq gnus-moderated-list
21177 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
21181 @node Image Enhancements
21182 @section Image Enhancements
21184 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21, is able to display pictures and stuff, so
21185 Gnus has taken advantage of that.
21188 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
21189 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
21190 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
21191 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
21204 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
21205 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
21206 over your shoulder as you read news.
21208 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
21217 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
21218 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
21219 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
21220 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
21221 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
21222 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
21223 @code{GIF} formats.
21226 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21227 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
21228 point your Web browser at
21229 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
21231 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
21232 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
21234 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
21235 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
21238 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
21242 @item gnus-picon-databases
21243 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21244 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
21245 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
21246 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
21247 "/usr/local/faces")}.
21249 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
21250 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
21251 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
21252 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
21254 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
21255 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
21256 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
21257 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
21259 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
21260 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
21261 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
21262 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
21263 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
21265 @item gnus-picon-file-types
21266 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
21267 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
21268 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your Emacs.
21273 @subsection Smileys
21278 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
21283 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
21284 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
21286 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
21287 @file{.gnus.el} file:
21290 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
21293 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
21294 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
21295 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
21296 text and maps that to file names.
21298 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
21299 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
21300 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
21301 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
21302 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
21305 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
21310 @item smiley-data-directory
21311 @vindex smiley-data-directory
21312 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
21314 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
21315 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
21316 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
21325 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
21326 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
21327 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
21331 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
21332 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
21333 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
21334 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
21342 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
21343 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
21344 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
21345 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
21347 The variable that controls this is the
21348 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
21349 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
21350 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
21351 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
21352 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
21354 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
21355 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
21356 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
21357 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
21360 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
21361 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
21362 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
21363 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
21364 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
21365 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
21366 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
21367 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
21369 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
21372 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21373 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
21375 @findex gnus-random-x-face
21376 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
21377 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
21378 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
21379 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
21380 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
21381 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
21382 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
21383 header data as a string.
21385 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
21386 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
21387 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
21388 randomly generated data.
21390 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
21391 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
21392 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
21393 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
21394 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
21396 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
21397 like the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
21400 (setq message-required-news-headers
21401 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21402 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
21405 Using the last function would be something like this:
21408 (setq message-required-news-headers
21409 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21410 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
21411 (gnus-x-face-from-file
21412 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
21417 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
21420 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21421 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21422 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
21423 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
21424 unusual directory structure.
21426 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21427 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21428 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
21429 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
21431 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21432 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21433 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
21434 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
21435 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
21436 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
21438 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21439 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21440 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
21445 @subsubsection Toolbar
21449 @item gnus-use-toolbar
21450 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
21451 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
21452 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
21453 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
21455 @item gnus-group-toolbar
21456 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
21457 The toolbar in the group buffer.
21459 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
21460 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
21461 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
21463 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21464 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21465 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
21476 @node Fuzzy Matching
21477 @section Fuzzy Matching
21478 @cindex fuzzy matching
21480 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
21481 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
21483 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
21484 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
21485 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
21487 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
21488 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
21489 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
21490 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
21491 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
21494 @node Thwarting Email Spam
21495 @section Thwarting Email Spam
21499 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21501 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
21502 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
21503 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
21504 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
21505 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
21506 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
21507 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
21508 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
21511 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
21512 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
21513 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
21514 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
21515 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
21516 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
21518 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
21521 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
21522 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
21523 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
21524 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
21525 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
21526 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
21529 @node The problem of spam
21530 @subsection The problem of spam
21532 @cindex spam filtering approaches
21533 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
21535 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21537 First, some background on spam.
21539 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
21540 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it exists
21541 because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail, so only
21542 a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to make it
21543 worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most common
21544 spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for further
21545 spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers}, but terms like
21546 @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, and @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
21548 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
21549 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
21550 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
21551 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
21552 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
21553 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
21554 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
21555 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
21556 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
21559 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering. If you get 200
21560 spam messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you
21561 block @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about
21562 @samp{VIAGRA}, you discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the
21563 message. This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate
21564 e-mail. For instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest
21565 has been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it
21566 @strong{contained} words that were common in spam messages.
21567 Nevertheless, in isolated cases, with great care, direct filtering of
21568 mail can be useful.
21570 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
21571 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
21572 @code{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @samp{X} in
21573 China, Ghana, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
21574 @code{N} systems enter @samp{X} or the spam e-mail from @samp{X} into
21575 a database. The criteria for spam detection vary - it may be the
21576 number of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When
21577 a user of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a
21578 message is spam, he consults one of those @code{N} systems.
21580 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
21581 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
21582 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
21583 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
21584 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
21585 sending spam, and their web sites have been shut down for some time
21586 because of the incident.
21588 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
21589 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
21590 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
21591 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
21592 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
21593 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
21594 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
21595 to store the database of spam analyses.
21597 @node Anti-Spam Basics
21598 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
21602 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21604 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
21605 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
21607 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
21608 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
21609 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
21610 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
21611 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
21612 part of the mail address.)
21615 (setq message-default-news-headers
21616 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
21619 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
21620 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21625 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
21626 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
21627 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
21633 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
21634 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
21635 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
21636 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
21638 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @sc{smtp} server
21639 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
21640 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
21641 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
21642 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
21643 your fancy split rule in this way:
21648 (to "larsi" "misc")
21652 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
21653 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
21654 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
21655 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
21656 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
21658 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
21659 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
21660 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
21661 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
21662 cosmic balance somewhat.
21664 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
21665 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
21666 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
21667 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
21672 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
21673 @cindex SpamAssassin
21674 @cindex Vipul's Razor
21677 The days where the hints in the previous section was sufficient in
21678 avoiding spam is coming to an end. There are many tools out there
21679 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
21680 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
21681 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
21682 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
21683 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
21685 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
21686 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
21687 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
21688 Specifiers}) follows.
21692 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
21695 :postscript "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
21698 Once you managed to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
21699 the mail contain e.g. a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
21700 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
21703 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
21707 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21710 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
21711 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
21715 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
21716 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
21717 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
21718 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
21721 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
21723 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
21725 (let ((buf (or (get-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
21726 (get-buffer " *nnml move*"))))
21728 (progn (message "Oops, cannot find message buffer") nil)
21730 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
21731 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
21735 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
21736 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
21737 spam. And here is the nifty function:
21740 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
21741 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
21743 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
21744 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
21745 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
21749 @subsection Hashcash
21752 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
21753 costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
21754 you cannot rely on that everyone in the world uses this technique,
21755 since it is not part of the Internet standards, but it may be useful
21756 in smaller communities.
21758 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
21759 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
21760 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
21761 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
21762 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
21763 instead requires that everyone you communicate with supports the
21764 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
21765 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
21766 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
21767 one of them separately.
21770 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
21771 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
21772 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
21773 header. For more details, and for the external application
21774 @code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
21775 @uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
21776 information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
21778 If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
21782 (require 'hashcash)
21783 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
21786 The @code{hashcash.el} library can be found at
21787 @uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}, or in the Gnus
21788 development contrib directory.
21790 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
21794 @item hashcash-default-payment
21795 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
21796 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
21797 should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
21798 done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
21800 @item hashcash-payment-alist
21801 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
21802 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
21803 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
21804 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
21805 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
21806 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
21807 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
21808 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
21812 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
21816 Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
21817 hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
21818 customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
21819 a useful contribution, however.
21821 @node Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
21822 @subsection Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
21823 @cindex spam filtering
21826 The idea behind @code{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
21827 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @code{spam.el} does two things: it
21828 filters incoming mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam or ham.
21829 @emph{Ham} is the name used throughout @code{spam.el} to indicate
21832 So, what happens when you load @code{spam.el}? First of all, you get
21833 the following keyboard commands:
21843 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
21844 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
21846 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark.
21847 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
21848 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group. This is done automatically
21849 for unread articles in @emph{spam} groups.
21855 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
21856 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
21858 You must have Bogofilter installed for that command to work properly.
21864 Also, when you load @code{spam.el}, you will be able to customize its
21865 variables. Try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{spam} variable
21868 The concepts of ham processors and spam processors are very important.
21869 Ham processors and spam processors for a group can be set with the
21870 @code{spam-process} group parameter, or the
21871 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. Ham processors take
21872 mail known to be non-spam (@emph{ham}) and process it in some way so
21873 that later similar mail will also be considered non-spam. Spam
21874 processors take mail known to be spam and process it so similar spam
21875 will be detected later.
21877 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
21878 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
21879 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
21880 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
21881 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
21882 by customizing the corresponding variable
21883 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
21884 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
21885 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
21886 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
21887 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
21888 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
21889 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
21892 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
21893 they get the @samp{$} mark when you enter the group. You must review
21894 these messages from time to time and remove the @samp{$} mark for
21895 every message that is not spam after all. To remove the @samp{$}
21896 mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or @kbd{d} for
21897 declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a group, all
21898 spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam processor which
21899 will study them as spam samples.
21901 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
21902 @code{spam-ham-marks} gets overridden below, marks @samp{R} and
21903 @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
21904 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
21905 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
21906 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
21907 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
21908 should then adjust the @code{spam-ham-marks} variable.
21910 @defvar spam-ham-marks
21911 You can customize this variable to be the list of marks you want to
21912 consider ham. By default, the list contains the deleted, read,
21913 killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks.
21916 @defvar spam-spam-marks
21917 You can customize this variable to be the list of marks you want to
21918 consider spam. By default, the list contains only the spam mark.
21921 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
21922 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
21923 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
21924 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
21925 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
21926 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
21929 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
21930 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
21931 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
21932 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
21933 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
21934 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
21935 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
21936 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with
21937 @code{customize-variable gnus-ham-process-destinations}). The ultimate
21938 location is a group name. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
21939 parameter is not set, spam articles are only expired.
21941 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
21942 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
21944 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
21945 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
21946 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
21947 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
21948 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
21949 customize this variable with @code{customize-variable
21950 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). The ultimate location is a group
21951 name. If the @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set,
21952 the spam articles are only expired.
21954 To use the @code{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
21955 must add the following to your fancy split list
21956 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
21962 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
21963 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
21964 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
21966 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the
21967 mail considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
21968 @code{spam-split-group}. By default that group name is @samp{spam},
21969 but you can customize it.
21971 @emph{Note for IMAP users}
21973 The boolean variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} needs to be
21974 set, if you want to split based on the whole message instead of just
21975 the headers. By default, the nnimap backend will only retrieve the
21976 message headers. If you use spam-check-bogofilter, spam-check-ifile,
21977 or spam-check-stat (the splitters that can benefit from the full
21978 message body), you should set this variable. It is not set by default
21979 because it will slow IMAP down.
21981 @xref{Splitting in IMAP}.
21983 @emph{TODO: Currently, spam.el only supports insertion of articles
21984 into a backend. There is no way to tell spam.el that an article is no
21985 longer spam or ham.}
21987 @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
21988 statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
21991 The following are the methods you can use to control the behavior of
21992 @code{spam-split} and their corresponding spam and ham processors:
21995 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
21996 * BBDB Whitelists::
21998 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
22000 * ifile spam filtering::
22001 * spam-stat spam filtering::
22002 * Extending the spam elisp package::
22005 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
22006 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
22007 @cindex spam filtering
22008 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
22009 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
22012 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
22014 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
22015 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
22016 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
22017 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
22022 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
22024 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
22025 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
22026 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
22027 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
22028 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
22032 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
22034 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
22035 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
22036 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
22040 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
22042 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22043 customizing the group parameters or the
22044 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22045 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22046 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
22050 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
22052 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22053 customizing the group parameters or the
22054 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22055 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22056 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
22057 whitelist. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
22058 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22062 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
22063 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
22064 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
22065 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
22066 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
22068 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
22069 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
22070 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
22071 Emacs regular expression syntax.
22073 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
22074 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
22075 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
22076 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
22077 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
22078 @file{blacklist} respectively.
22080 @node BBDB Whitelists
22081 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
22082 @cindex spam filtering
22083 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
22084 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
22087 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
22089 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
22090 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
22091 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
22092 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
22093 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
22094 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
22095 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
22099 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
22101 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
22102 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
22103 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
22104 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
22105 classified as spammers.
22109 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
22111 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22112 customizing the group parameters or the
22113 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22114 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22115 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
22116 BBDB. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
22117 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22122 @subsubsection Blackholes
22123 @cindex spam filtering
22124 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
22127 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
22129 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
22130 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
22131 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
22132 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
22133 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
22134 contains outdated servers.
22136 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
22137 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
22138 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to nil. It is not recommended at this
22139 time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to nil despite the possible
22140 performance improvements, because some users may be unable to use it,
22141 but you can try it and see if it works for you.
22145 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
22147 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
22151 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
22153 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
22154 blackhole server list. When set to nil, it has no effect.
22158 @defvar spam-use-dig
22160 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
22161 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
22165 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
22166 ham processor for blackholes.
22168 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
22169 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
22170 @cindex spam filtering
22171 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
22174 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
22176 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
22177 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
22178 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
22179 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
22180 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
22181 message is spam or ham, respectively.
22185 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
22187 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
22188 the message, positively identify it as spam.
22192 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
22194 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
22195 the message, positively identify it as ham.
22199 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
22200 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
22203 @subsubsection Bogofilter
22204 @cindex spam filtering
22205 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
22208 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
22210 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
22213 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
22214 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
22215 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
22216 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
22217 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
22218 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
22220 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on an internal
22221 threshold, set at compilation time. That threshold can't be
22224 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
22225 processing will be turned off.
22227 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
22231 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
22233 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
22234 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
22235 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
22236 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
22237 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
22238 installation documents for details.
22240 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
22244 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
22245 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22246 customizing the group parameters or the
22247 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22248 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
22249 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
22252 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
22253 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22254 customizing the group parameters or the
22255 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22256 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
22257 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
22258 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
22259 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22262 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
22264 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
22265 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
22266 database directory.
22270 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to ifile in intent and
22271 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
22272 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
22273 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
22274 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
22275 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
22277 @node ifile spam filtering
22278 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
22279 @cindex spam filtering
22280 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
22283 @defvar spam-use-ifile
22285 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use ifile, a
22286 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
22290 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
22292 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
22293 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
22294 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
22298 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
22300 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
22301 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
22302 the default value of @samp{spam}.
22305 @defvar spam-ifile-database-path
22307 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
22308 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
22312 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
22313 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
22314 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
22315 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
22318 @node spam-stat spam filtering
22319 @subsubsection spam-stat spam filtering
22320 @cindex spam filtering
22321 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
22325 @xref{Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat}.
22327 @defvar spam-use-stat
22329 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use
22330 spam-stat.el, an Emacs Lisp statistical analyzer.
22334 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
22335 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22336 customizing the group parameters or the
22337 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22338 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
22339 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
22342 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
22343 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22344 customizing the group parameters or the
22345 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22346 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
22347 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
22348 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
22349 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22352 This enables spam.el to cooperate with spam-stat.el. spam-stat.el
22353 provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database, which unlike ifile or
22354 Bogofilter does not require external programs. A spam and a ham
22355 processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for @code{spam-split}
22358 @node Extending the spam elisp package
22359 @subsubsection Extending the spam elisp package
22360 @cindex spam filtering
22361 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
22362 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
22364 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
22365 incoming mail, provide the following:
22373 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
22374 "True if blackbox should be used.")
22379 (spam-use-blackbox . spam-check-blackbox)
22381 to @code{spam-list-of-checks}.
22386 Write the @code{spam-check-blackbox} function. It should return
22387 @samp{nil} or @code{spam-split-group}. See the existing
22388 @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can do.
22390 Make sure to add @code{spam-use-blackbox} to
22391 @code{spam-list-of-statistical-checks} if Blackbox is a statistical
22392 mail analyzer that needs the full message body to operate.
22396 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
22403 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
22404 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
22407 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
22408 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
22409 Only applicable to spam groups.")
22411 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
22412 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
22413 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
22421 (defun spam-blackbox-register-spam-routine ()
22422 (spam-generic-register-routine
22423 ;; the spam function
22425 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
22426 (when (stringp from)
22427 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer from))))
22428 ;; the ham function
22431 (defun spam-blackbox-register-ham-routine ()
22432 (spam-generic-register-routine
22433 ;; the spam function
22435 ;; the ham function
22437 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
22438 (when (stringp from)
22439 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender from))))))
22442 Write the @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender} and
22443 @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer} functions. You can add
22444 more complex code than fetching the message sender, but keep in mind
22445 that retrieving the whole message takes significantly longer than the
22446 sender through @code{spam-fetch-field-from-fast}, because the message
22447 senders are kept in memory by Gnus.
22452 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
22453 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
22454 @cindex Paul Graham
22455 @cindex Graham, Paul
22456 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
22457 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
22458 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
22460 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
22461 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
22462 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
22463 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
22464 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
22465 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
22466 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
22467 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
22468 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
22471 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
22472 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
22473 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
22474 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
22475 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
22476 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
22477 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
22478 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
22480 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
22481 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
22482 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
22483 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
22484 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
22487 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
22488 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
22489 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
22492 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
22493 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
22495 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
22496 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
22497 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
22498 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
22499 need several hundred emails in both collections.
22501 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
22502 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
22503 per mail. Use the following:
22505 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
22506 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
22507 is treated as one spam mail.
22510 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
22511 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
22512 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
22515 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
22516 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
22517 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
22518 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
22519 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
22520 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
22522 When you are using IMAP, you won't have the mails available locally,
22523 so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent to cache
22524 the articles. Then you can use directories such as
22525 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
22526 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
22529 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics -- the
22530 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
22531 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
22532 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
22535 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
22536 reset the dictionary.
22538 @defun spam-stat-reset
22539 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
22542 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
22543 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
22544 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
22545 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
22546 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
22547 only non-spam mails.
22549 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
22550 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
22551 to update the dictionary incrementally.
22554 @defun spam-stat-save
22555 Save the dictionary.
22558 @defvar spam-stat-file
22559 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
22560 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
22563 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
22564 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
22566 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
22567 following to your @file{~/.gnus} file:
22570 (require 'spam-stat)
22574 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
22577 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
22578 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
22579 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
22580 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
22582 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
22583 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
22584 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
22585 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
22588 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22589 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22593 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
22594 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
22597 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
22598 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
22599 expression are considered potential spam.
22602 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22603 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22604 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22608 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
22609 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
22610 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
22611 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
22612 mails, when creating the dictionary!
22615 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22616 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22617 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22621 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
22622 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
22623 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
22624 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
22625 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
22629 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22630 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
22631 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22632 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22637 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
22638 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
22640 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
22642 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
22643 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
22644 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
22647 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
22648 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
22649 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
22652 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
22653 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
22654 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
22655 already been processed as non-spam.
22658 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
22659 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
22660 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
22661 been processed as spam.
22664 @defun spam-stat-save
22665 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
22666 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
22669 @defun spam-stat-load
22670 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
22671 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
22674 @defun spam-stat-score-word
22675 Return the spam score for a word.
22678 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
22679 Return the spam score for a buffer.
22682 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
22683 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
22684 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
22687 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
22688 following in your @file{~/.gnus} file:
22691 (require 'spam-stat)
22695 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
22698 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
22699 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22700 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22701 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22702 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
22703 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
22704 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22705 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22706 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
22707 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22708 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
22709 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
22710 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22711 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22714 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
22717 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
22718 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22719 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22720 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
22721 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
22722 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22725 @node Various Various
22726 @section Various Various
22732 @item gnus-home-directory
22733 @vindex gnus-home-directory
22734 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
22735 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
22737 @item gnus-directory
22738 @vindex gnus-directory
22739 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
22740 this variable, which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment
22741 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
22743 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
22744 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
22745 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
22746 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
22748 @item gnus-default-directory
22749 @vindex gnus-default-directory
22750 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
22751 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
22752 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
22753 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
22754 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
22755 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
22758 @vindex gnus-verbose
22759 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
22760 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
22761 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
22762 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
22763 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
22765 @item gnus-verbose-backends
22766 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
22767 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
22768 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
22770 @item nnheader-max-head-length
22771 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
22772 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
22773 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
22774 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
22775 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
22776 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
22777 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
22778 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
22779 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
22781 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
22782 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
22783 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
22784 read when doing the operation described above.
22786 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22787 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22789 @cindex invalid characters in file names
22790 @cindex characters in file names
22791 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
22792 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
22793 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
22796 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22800 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
22801 Windows (phooey) systems.
22803 @item gnus-hidden-properties
22804 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
22805 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
22806 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
22807 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
22809 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
22810 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
22811 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
22812 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
22813 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
22815 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
22816 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
22817 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
22819 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
22820 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
22822 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
22823 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
22824 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
22825 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
22828 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
22836 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
22837 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
22839 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
22841 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
22847 Not because of victories @*
22850 but for the common sunshine,@*
22852 the largess of the spring.
22856 but for the day's work done@*
22857 as well as I was able;@*
22858 not for a seat upon the dais@*
22859 but at the common table.@*
22864 @chapter Appendices
22867 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
22868 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
22869 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
22870 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
22871 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
22872 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
22873 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
22874 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
22875 * Frequently Asked Questions::
22882 @cindex Installing under XEmacs
22884 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
22885 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
22886 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
22887 @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
22888 @samp{xemacs-base}, @samp{sh-script} and @samp{fsf-compat}. The
22889 @samp{misc-games} package is required for Morse decoding.
22896 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
22897 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
22899 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
22900 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
22901 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
22902 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
22903 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
22905 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
22906 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
22907 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
22908 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
22909 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
22910 appropriate name, don't you think?)
22912 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
22913 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
22914 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
22915 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
22918 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
22919 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
22920 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
22921 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
22922 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
22923 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
22924 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
22925 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
22926 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
22930 @node Gnus Versions
22931 @subsection Gnus Versions
22933 @cindex September Gnus
22935 @cindex Quassia Gnus
22936 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
22940 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
22941 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
22942 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
22944 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
22945 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
22947 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
22948 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
22950 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
22951 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
22953 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
22954 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
22957 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
22959 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
22960 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
22961 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
22962 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
22963 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
22964 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
22967 @node Other Gnus Versions
22968 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
22971 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
22972 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
22973 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
22974 @sc{mime} capabilities.
22976 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
22977 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
22978 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
22979 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
22986 What's the point of Gnus?
22988 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
22989 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
22990 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
22991 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
22992 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
22993 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
22994 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
22995 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
22996 keep track of millions of people who post?
22998 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
22999 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
23000 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
23001 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
23002 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
23003 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
23004 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
23005 every one of you to explore and invent.
23007 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
23008 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
23011 @node Compatibility
23012 @subsection Compatibility
23014 @cindex compatibility
23015 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
23016 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
23017 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
23022 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
23026 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
23029 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
23032 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
23033 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
23034 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
23035 important variables have their values copied into their global
23036 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
23037 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
23039 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
23040 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
23041 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
23042 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
23043 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
23047 @cindex highlighting
23048 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
23049 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
23050 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
23051 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
23052 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
23053 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
23056 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
23057 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
23058 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
23059 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
23061 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
23062 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
23063 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
23064 to stop doing it the old way.
23066 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
23068 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
23070 @cindex reporting bugs
23072 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
23073 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
23074 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
23076 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
23077 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
23078 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
23079 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
23084 @subsection Conformity
23086 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
23087 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
23095 There are no known breaches of this standard.
23099 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
23101 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
23102 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
23103 We do have some breaches to this one.
23109 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
23110 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
23111 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
23112 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
23113 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
23118 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
23119 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
23120 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
23121 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
23123 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
23125 All the various @sc{mime} RFCs are supported.
23127 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
23128 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
23130 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
23133 RFC 1991 is the original PGP message specification, published as a
23134 Information RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now called Open PGP, and
23135 put on the Standards Track. Both document a non-@sc{mime} aware PGP
23136 format. Gnus supports both encoding (signing and encryption) and
23137 decoding (verification and decryption).
23139 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
23140 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
23141 1991) describes the @sc{mime}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
23142 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
23144 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
23145 RFC 2633 describes the @sc{s/mime} format.
23147 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
23148 RFC 1730 is @sc{imap} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060 (@sc{imap} 4
23149 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5 authentication for @sc{imap}. RFC
23150 2086 describes access control lists (ACLs) for @sc{imap}. RFC 2359
23151 describes a @sc{imap} protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper
23152 TLS integration (STARTTLS) with @sc{imap}. RFC 1731 describes the
23153 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @sc{imap}.
23157 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
23158 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
23163 @subsection Emacsen
23169 Gnus should work on :
23177 XEmacs 21.1.1 and up.
23181 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
23182 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
23183 Emacs versions. However, T-gnus does support ``Mule 2.3 based on Emacs
23184 19.34'' and possibly the versions of XEmacs prior to 21.1.1, e.g. 20.4.
23185 See the file ``README'' in the T-gnus distribution for more details.
23187 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
23188 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
23189 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
23193 @node Gnus Development
23194 @subsection Gnus Development
23196 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
23197 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
23198 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
23199 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
23200 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
23201 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
23202 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
23203 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
23205 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
23206 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
23207 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
23208 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
23209 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
23212 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
23213 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
23214 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
23215 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
23216 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
23218 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
23219 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
23220 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
23221 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
23222 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
23223 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
23224 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
23225 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
23226 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
23227 can't be assumed to do so.
23232 @subsection Contributors
23233 @cindex contributors
23235 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
23236 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
23237 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
23238 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
23239 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
23240 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
23241 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
23242 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
23243 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
23244 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
23246 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
23252 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
23255 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
23256 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
23257 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
23258 functionality and stuff.
23261 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
23262 well as numerous other things).
23265 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
23268 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
23271 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
23274 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
23277 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
23278 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
23281 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
23284 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
23285 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
23288 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
23291 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
23294 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
23297 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
23300 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
23301 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
23304 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
23307 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
23310 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
23313 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
23317 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
23320 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
23323 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
23326 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
23327 well as autoconf support.
23331 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
23332 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
23334 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
23343 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
23347 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
23357 Alexei V. Barantsev,
23372 Massimo Campostrini,
23377 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
23378 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
23382 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
23385 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
23391 Michael Welsh Duggan,
23396 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
23400 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
23408 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
23410 Michelangelo Grigni,
23414 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
23416 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
23418 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
23425 François Felix Ingrand,
23426 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
23427 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
23429 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
23440 Peter Skov Knudsen,
23441 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
23443 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
23444 Thor Kristoffersen,
23447 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
23465 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
23466 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
23473 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
23478 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
23482 John McClary Prevost,
23488 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
23493 Christian von Roques,
23496 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
23503 Philippe Schnoebelen,
23505 Randal L. Schwartz,
23519 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
23524 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
23540 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
23545 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
23546 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
23547 (550kB and counting).
23549 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
23552 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
23553 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
23557 @subsection New Features
23558 @cindex new features
23561 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
23562 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
23563 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
23564 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
23565 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
23568 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
23569 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
23570 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
23573 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
23575 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
23580 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
23581 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
23584 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
23585 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
23588 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
23591 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
23592 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
23593 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
23596 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
23597 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
23598 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
23599 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
23602 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
23603 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23606 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
23607 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
23608 (@pxref{The Active File}).
23611 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
23612 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
23615 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
23616 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
23617 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
23620 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
23621 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
23622 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
23625 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus.el}) to avoid cluttering up
23626 the @file{.emacs} file.
23629 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
23630 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
23633 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
23634 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
23637 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
23638 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23641 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
23642 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
23645 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
23646 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
23649 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
23652 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
23653 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
23656 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
23657 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
23660 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
23661 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
23664 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
23667 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
23668 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
23671 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
23675 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
23679 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
23680 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
23683 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
23689 @node September Gnus
23690 @subsubsection September Gnus
23694 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
23698 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
23703 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
23704 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
23708 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
23709 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
23713 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
23717 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
23718 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
23721 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
23725 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
23728 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
23731 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
23734 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
23738 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
23739 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
23742 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
23746 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
23750 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
23754 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
23758 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
23761 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
23762 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
23765 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
23769 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
23770 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
23773 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
23776 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
23777 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
23778 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
23781 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
23785 The Gnus cache is much faster.
23788 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
23792 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
23793 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
23796 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
23797 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
23800 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
23801 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
23804 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
23805 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
23806 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
23809 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
23810 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
23813 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
23816 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
23819 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
23822 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
23825 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
23826 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
23829 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
23833 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
23836 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
23841 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
23844 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
23848 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23851 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
23855 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
23858 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
23861 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
23862 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
23865 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
23866 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
23870 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
23871 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
23874 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
23878 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
23879 buffer to allow easier treatment.
23882 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
23885 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
23889 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
23893 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
23894 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
23897 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
23901 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
23902 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
23905 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
23906 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
23909 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
23913 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
23916 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
23919 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
23925 @subsubsection Red Gnus
23927 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
23931 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
23938 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
23941 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
23942 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
23945 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
23946 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
23950 Article washing status can be displayed in the
23951 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
23954 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
23957 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
23958 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
23961 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
23965 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
23966 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
23970 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
23971 Server Internals}).
23974 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
23978 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
23981 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
23982 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
23985 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
23986 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
23987 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
23990 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
23991 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
23994 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
23995 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
23998 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
24002 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
24003 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
24006 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
24007 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
24010 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
24014 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
24017 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
24021 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
24022 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
24025 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
24026 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
24029 A new command for reading collections of documents
24030 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
24031 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
24034 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
24038 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
24039 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
24042 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
24043 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
24044 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
24047 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
24048 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
24052 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
24056 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
24060 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
24065 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
24069 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
24073 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
24074 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
24077 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
24083 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
24085 New features in Gnus 5.6:
24090 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
24091 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
24092 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
24095 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
24096 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
24097 group, which is created automatically.
24100 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
24104 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
24107 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
24108 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
24111 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
24115 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
24118 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
24119 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
24122 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
24125 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section ``Symbolic
24126 Prefixes'' in the Gnus manual for details.
24129 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
24130 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
24133 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
24134 control over simplification.
24137 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
24140 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
24144 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
24147 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
24150 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
24151 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
24152 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
24155 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
24156 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
24159 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
24163 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
24164 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
24167 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
24168 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
24171 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
24175 A history of where mails have been split is available.
24178 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
24181 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
24182 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
24185 A new function for citing in Message has been
24186 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
24189 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
24192 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
24196 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
24197 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
24200 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
24201 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
24204 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
24207 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
24211 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
24212 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
24214 New features in Gnus 5.8:
24219 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
24220 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
24222 If you used procmail like in
24225 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
24226 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
24227 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
24228 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
24231 this now has changed to
24235 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
24239 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
24240 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
24243 Gnus is now a @sc{mime}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
24244 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
24247 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
24248 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
24251 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
24252 called to position point.
24255 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
24256 summary buffers and @sc{nov} files.
24259 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
24260 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
24263 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
24264 subtly different manner.
24267 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
24268 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
24269 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
24272 Gnus can now read @sc{imap} mail via @code{nnimap}.
24280 @section The Manual
24284 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
24285 either @code{texi2dvi}
24287 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
24288 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
24290 to get what you hold in your hands now.
24292 The following conventions have been used:
24297 This is a @samp{string}
24300 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
24303 This is a @file{file}
24306 This is a @code{symbol}
24310 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
24314 (setq flargnoze "yes")
24317 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
24320 (setq flumphel 'yes)
24323 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
24324 ever get them confused.
24328 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
24329 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
24330 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
24331 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
24332 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
24333 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
24334 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
24340 @node On Writing Manuals
24341 @section On Writing Manuals
24343 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
24344 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
24345 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
24346 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
24347 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
24348 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
24351 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
24352 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
24353 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
24356 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
24357 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
24362 @section Terminology
24364 @cindex terminology
24369 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
24370 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
24371 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
24372 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
24373 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
24377 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
24378 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
24379 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
24380 not posting, and replying is not following up.
24384 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
24388 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
24393 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
24394 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
24395 commonly fetched via the protocol NNTP, whereas mail messages could be
24396 read from a file on the local disk. The internal architecture of Gnus
24397 thus comprises a `front end' and a number of `back ends'. Internally,
24398 when you enter a group (by hitting @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke
24399 a function in the front end in Gnus. The front end then `talks' to a
24400 back end and says things like ``Give me the list of articles in the foo
24401 group'' or ``Show me article number 4711''.
24403 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back end
24404 accesses news via NNTP, the @code{nnimap} back end accesses mail via
24405 IMAP) or a file format and directory layout (the @code{nnspool} back end
24406 accesses news via the common `spool directory' format, the @code{nnml}
24407 back end access mail via a file format and directory layout that's
24410 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
24411 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
24412 access the articles.
24414 However, sometimes the term `back end' is also used where `server'
24415 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term `select
24416 method' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
24421 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
24422 default, way of getting news.
24426 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
24427 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
24432 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
24433 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
24437 A message that has been posted as news.
24440 @cindex mail message
24441 A message that has been mailed.
24445 A mail message or news article
24449 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
24454 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
24459 A line from the head of an article.
24463 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
24464 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
24468 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
24469 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
24470 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
24471 normal @sc{head} format.
24475 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
24476 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
24477 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
24478 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
24479 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
24480 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
24482 @item killed groups
24483 @cindex killed groups
24484 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
24485 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
24487 @item zombie groups
24488 @cindex zombie groups
24489 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
24492 @cindex active file
24493 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
24494 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
24495 is rather large, as you might surmise.
24498 @cindex bogus groups
24499 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
24500 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
24501 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
24504 @cindex activating groups
24505 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
24506 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
24507 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
24511 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
24513 @item select method
24514 @cindex select method
24515 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
24518 @item virtual server
24519 @cindex virtual server
24520 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
24521 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
24522 whole is a virtual server.
24526 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
24527 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
24530 @item ephemeral groups
24531 @cindex ephemeral groups
24532 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
24533 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
24534 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
24537 @cindex solid groups
24538 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
24539 group buffer are solid groups.
24541 @item sparse articles
24542 @cindex sparse articles
24543 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
24544 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
24548 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
24549 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
24553 @cindex thread root
24554 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
24555 articles in the thread.
24559 An article that has responses.
24563 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
24567 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
24568 specified by RFC 1153.
24574 @node Customization
24575 @section Customization
24576 @cindex general customization
24578 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
24579 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
24580 for some quite common situations.
24583 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
24584 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
24585 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
24586 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
24590 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
24591 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
24593 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
24594 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
24595 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
24599 @item gnus-read-active-file
24600 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
24601 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
24602 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
24603 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
24604 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
24606 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
24607 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
24608 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
24609 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
24613 @node Slow Terminal Connection
24614 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
24616 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
24617 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
24618 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
24622 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
24623 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
24624 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
24625 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
24626 horizontal and vertical recentering.
24628 @item gnus-visible-headers
24629 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
24630 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
24631 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
24632 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
24634 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
24636 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
24637 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
24638 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
24641 @item gnus-use-full-window
24642 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
24643 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
24644 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
24645 want to read them anyway.
24647 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
24648 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
24652 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
24653 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
24654 lines, which might save some time.
24658 @node Little Disk Space
24659 @subsection Little Disk Space
24662 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
24663 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
24667 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
24668 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
24669 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
24670 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
24673 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
24674 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
24675 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
24676 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
24679 @item gnus-save-killed-list
24680 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
24681 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
24682 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
24683 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
24689 @subsection Slow Machine
24690 @cindex slow machine
24692 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
24693 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
24695 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
24696 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
24698 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
24699 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
24700 summary buffer faster.
24704 @node Troubleshooting
24705 @section Troubleshooting
24706 @cindex troubleshooting
24708 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
24716 Make sure your computer is switched on.
24719 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
24720 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
24724 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
24725 like @samp{T-gnus 6.15.* (based on Oort Gnus v0.*; for SEMI 1.1*, FLIM
24726 1.1*)} you have the right files loaded. If, on the other hand, you get
24727 something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp flee}, you have some old
24728 @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
24731 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
24735 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
24736 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
24737 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
24738 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
24739 something like that.
24742 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
24745 @cindex reporting bugs
24747 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
24749 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
24750 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
24751 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
24752 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
24754 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
24755 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
24756 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
24757 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
24760 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
24761 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
24762 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
24763 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
24764 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
24765 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
24767 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
24768 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
24769 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
24773 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
24774 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
24777 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
24778 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
24779 edebug. Debugging lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
24780 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
24781 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
24782 you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
24783 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
24784 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
24785 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
24786 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
24787 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
24788 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
24789 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
24790 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
24795 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate a elisp error but
24796 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
24797 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
24798 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
24799 helps isolating the real problem areas). A fancier approach is to use
24800 the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is (or should be) fully
24801 documented elsewhere, but to get you started there are a few steps
24802 that need to be followed. First, instrument the part of Gnus you are
24803 interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package RET
24804 gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package RET message}. Then perform
24805 the operation that is slow and press @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will
24806 then see which operations that takes time, and can debug them further.
24807 If the entire operation takes much longer than the time spent in the
24808 slowest function in the profiler output, you probably profiled the
24809 wrong part of Gnus. To reset profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x
24810 elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove
24811 profiling, but given the complexities and dynamic code generation in
24812 Gnus, it might not always work perfectly.
24814 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
24815 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
24817 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
24818 @cindex ding mailing list
24819 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@email{ding@@gnus.org}.
24820 Write to @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
24824 @node Gnus Reference Guide
24825 @section Gnus Reference Guide
24827 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
24828 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
24829 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
24830 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
24833 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
24834 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
24835 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
24836 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
24837 and general methods of operation.
24840 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
24841 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
24842 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
24843 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
24844 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
24845 * Group Info:: The group info format.
24846 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
24847 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
24848 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
24852 @node Gnus Utility Functions
24853 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
24854 @cindex Gnus utility functions
24855 @cindex utility functions
24857 @cindex internal variables
24859 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
24860 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
24861 Below is a list of the most common ones.
24865 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
24866 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
24867 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
24869 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
24870 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
24871 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
24873 @item gnus-group-real-name
24874 @findex gnus-group-real-name
24875 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
24878 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
24879 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
24880 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
24881 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
24883 @item gnus-get-info
24884 @findex gnus-get-info
24885 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
24887 @item gnus-group-unread
24888 @findex gnus-group-unread
24889 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
24893 @findex gnus-active
24894 The active entry for @var{group}.
24896 @item gnus-set-active
24897 @findex gnus-set-active
24898 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
24900 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
24901 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
24902 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
24905 @item gnus-continuum-version
24906 @findex gnus-continuum-version
24907 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
24908 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
24911 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
24912 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
24913 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
24915 @item gnus-news-group-p
24916 @findex gnus-news-group-p
24917 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
24919 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
24920 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
24921 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
24923 @item gnus-server-to-method
24924 @findex gnus-server-to-method
24925 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
24927 @item gnus-server-equal
24928 @findex gnus-server-equal
24929 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
24931 @item gnus-group-native-p
24932 @findex gnus-group-native-p
24933 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
24935 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
24936 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
24937 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
24939 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
24940 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
24941 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
24943 @item group-group-find-parameter
24944 @findex group-group-find-parameter
24945 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
24946 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
24948 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
24949 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
24950 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
24952 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
24953 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
24954 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
24956 @item gnus-check-backend-function
24957 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
24958 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
24959 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
24962 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
24966 @item gnus-read-method
24967 @findex gnus-read-method
24968 Prompts the user for a select method.
24973 @node Back End Interface
24974 @subsection Back End Interface
24976 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
24977 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
24978 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
24979 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
24980 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
24981 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
24983 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
24984 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
24985 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
24986 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
24987 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
24988 been opened, the function should fail.
24990 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
24991 name. Take this example:
24995 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
24996 (nntp-port-number 4324))
24999 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
25000 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
25002 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
25003 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
25004 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
25006 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
25007 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
25008 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
25010 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
25011 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
25012 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
25013 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
25014 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
25015 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
25018 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
25019 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
25020 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
25021 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
25024 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
25025 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
25026 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
25027 possible for later articles to `re-use' older article numbers without
25028 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
25029 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
25030 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
25031 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
25032 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
25033 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
25035 The previous paragraph already mentions all the `hard' restrictions that
25036 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
25037 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
25038 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
25039 the `no-reuse' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
25040 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
25041 of numbers as long as possible.
25043 Note that by convention, backends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
25044 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
25045 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
25047 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
25050 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
25053 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
25054 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
25055 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
25056 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
25057 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
25058 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
25062 @node Required Back End Functions
25063 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
25067 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
25069 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
25070 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
25071 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
25072 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
25074 The result data should either be HEADs or @sc{nov} lines, and the result
25075 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
25076 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
25077 of HEADs and @sc{nov} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
25079 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
25080 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
25081 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
25082 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
25083 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
25084 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
25085 number, do maximum fetches.
25087 Here's an example HEAD:
25090 221 1056 Article retrieved.
25091 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
25092 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
25093 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
25094 Subject: Re: Something very droll
25095 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
25096 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
25098 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
25099 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
25100 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
25104 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
25105 these in the data buffer.
25107 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
25111 head = error / valid-head
25112 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
25113 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
25114 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
25115 header = <text> eol
25119 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
25121 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
25122 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
25126 nov-buffer = *nov-line
25127 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
25128 field = <text except TAB>
25131 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
25135 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
25137 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
25138 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
25140 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
25141 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
25142 server. In fact, it should do so.
25144 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
25145 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
25148 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
25150 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
25151 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
25154 There should be no data returned.
25157 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
25159 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
25160 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
25161 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
25162 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
25164 There should be no data returned.
25167 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
25169 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
25170 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
25171 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
25172 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
25174 There should be no data returned.
25177 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
25179 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
25181 There should be no data returned.
25184 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
25186 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
25187 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
25188 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
25189 it would be nice if that were possible.
25191 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
25192 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
25193 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
25194 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
25195 into its article buffer.
25197 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
25198 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
25199 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
25200 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
25201 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
25202 on successful article retrieval.
25205 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
25207 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
25208 making @var{group} the current group.
25210 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
25213 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
25216 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
25219 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
25220 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
25221 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
25222 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
25223 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
25224 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
25225 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
25226 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
25227 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
25231 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
25232 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
25233 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
25237 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
25239 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
25240 a no-op on most back ends.
25242 There should be no data returned.
25245 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
25247 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
25250 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
25253 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
25254 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
25257 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
25258 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
25259 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
25260 and the highest as 0.
25263 active-file = *active-line
25264 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
25266 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
25269 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
25270 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
25271 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
25274 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
25276 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
25277 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
25278 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
25279 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
25280 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
25281 clear if the posting could not be completed.
25283 There should be no result data from this function.
25288 @node Optional Back End Functions
25289 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
25293 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
25295 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
25296 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
25297 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
25299 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
25300 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
25301 former is in the same format as the data from
25302 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
25303 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
25306 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
25310 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
25312 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
25313 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all the
25314 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
25315 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
25316 should return a non-nil value.
25318 There should be no result data from this function.
25321 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
25323 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
25324 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
25325 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
25326 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
25327 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
25328 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
25329 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
25330 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
25332 There should be no result data from this function.
25335 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
25337 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
25338 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
25339 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
25340 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
25341 propagate the mark information to the server.
25343 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
25346 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
25349 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
25350 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
25351 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
25352 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
25353 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
25354 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
25355 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
25356 possible, not limit itself to these.
25358 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
25359 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
25360 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
25361 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
25363 An example action list:
25366 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
25367 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
25368 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
25371 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
25372 mark on (currently not used for anything).
25374 There should be no result data from this function.
25376 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
25378 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
25379 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
25380 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
25381 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
25382 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
25384 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
25385 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
25386 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
25389 There should be no result data from this function.
25392 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
25394 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
25395 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
25396 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query the
25397 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
25398 to be heeded---if the back end decides that it is too much work just
25399 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
25400 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
25402 There should be no result data from this function.
25405 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
25407 The result data from this function should be a description of
25411 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
25413 description = <text>
25416 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
25418 The result data from this function should be the description of all
25419 groups available on the server.
25422 description-buffer = *description-line
25426 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
25428 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
25429 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
25430 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
25431 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
25432 in the active buffer format.
25434 It is okay for this function to return `too many' groups; some back ends
25435 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
25436 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
25437 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
25438 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
25439 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
25440 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
25443 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
25445 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
25447 There should be no return data.
25450 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
25452 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
25453 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
25454 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
25455 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
25456 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
25459 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
25462 There should be no result data returned.
25465 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
25467 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
25468 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
25470 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
25471 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
25472 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
25473 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
25474 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
25475 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
25477 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
25478 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
25481 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
25482 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
25484 The group should exist before the backend is asked to accept the
25485 article for that group.
25487 There should be no data returned.
25490 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
25492 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
25493 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
25494 this function in short order.
25496 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
25497 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
25499 There should be no data returned.
25502 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
25504 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
25505 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
25507 There should be no data returned.
25510 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
25512 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
25513 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
25514 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
25516 There should be no data returned.
25519 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
25521 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
25522 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
25524 There should be no data returned.
25529 @node Error Messaging
25530 @subsubsection Error Messaging
25532 @findex nnheader-report
25533 @findex nnheader-get-report
25534 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
25535 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
25536 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
25537 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
25538 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
25539 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
25542 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
25544 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
25547 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
25548 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
25549 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
25550 takes one argument---the server symbol.
25552 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
25553 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
25554 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
25557 @node Writing New Back Ends
25558 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
25560 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
25561 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
25562 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
25563 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
25564 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
25567 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
25568 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
25569 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
25571 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
25572 package called @code{nnoo}.
25574 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
25575 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
25581 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
25582 parameters. For instance:
25585 (nnoo-declare nndir
25589 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
25590 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
25593 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
25594 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
25595 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
25597 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
25598 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
25599 a function in those back ends.
25602 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
25603 "Where nndir will look for groups."
25604 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
25607 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
25608 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
25609 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
25611 @item nnoo-define-basics
25612 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
25616 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
25620 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
25621 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
25622 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
25624 @item nnoo-map-functions
25625 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
25626 functions from the parent back ends.
25629 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
25630 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25631 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
25634 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
25635 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
25636 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
25637 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
25640 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
25641 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
25642 haven't already been defined.
25648 nnmh-request-newgroups)
25652 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
25653 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
25654 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
25659 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
25662 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
25663 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
25667 (require 'nnheader)
25671 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
25673 (nnoo-declare nndir
25676 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
25677 "Where nndir will look for groups."
25678 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
25680 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
25681 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
25684 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
25686 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
25687 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
25688 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
25690 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
25691 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
25693 ;;; Interface functions.
25695 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
25697 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
25698 (setq nndir-directory
25699 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
25701 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
25702 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
25703 (push `(nndir-current-group
25704 ,(file-name-nondirectory
25705 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
25707 (push `(nndir-top-directory
25708 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
25710 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
25712 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
25713 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25714 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25715 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
25716 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
25720 nnmh-status-message
25722 nnmh-request-newgroups))
25728 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
25729 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
25731 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
25732 @findex gnus-declare-backend
25733 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
25734 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
25735 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
25737 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
25738 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
25743 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
25746 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
25748 The abilities can be:
25752 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
25754 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
25756 This back end supports both mail and news.
25758 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
25761 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
25762 articles and groups.
25764 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
25765 true for almost all back ends.
25766 @item prompt-address
25767 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
25768 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
25769 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
25773 @node Mail-like Back Ends
25774 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
25776 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
25777 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
25778 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
25779 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
25782 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
25783 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
25784 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
25787 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
25788 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
25791 This function takes four parameters.
25795 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
25798 @item exit-function
25799 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
25801 @item temp-directory
25802 Where the temporary files should be stored.
25805 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
25806 performed for one group only.
25809 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
25810 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
25811 find the article number assigned to this article.
25813 The function also uses the following variables:
25814 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
25815 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
25816 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
25817 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
25821 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
25822 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
25826 @node Score File Syntax
25827 @subsection Score File Syntax
25829 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
25830 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
25831 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
25833 Here's a typical score file:
25837 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
25844 BNF definition of a score file:
25847 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
25848 element = rule / atom
25849 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
25850 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
25851 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
25852 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
25854 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
25855 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
25856 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
25857 date-header = "date"
25858 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
25859 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25860 score = "nil" / <integer>
25861 date = "nil" / <natural number>
25862 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
25863 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
25864 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
25865 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
25866 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
25867 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25868 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
25869 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
25870 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
25871 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
25872 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
25873 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
25874 exclude-files / read-only / touched
25875 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
25876 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
25877 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
25878 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
25879 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
25880 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
25881 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
25882 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
25883 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
25884 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
25885 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
25886 eval = "eval" space <form>
25887 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
25890 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
25893 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
25894 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
25895 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
25896 one looong line, then that's ok.
25898 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
25899 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
25903 @subsection Headers
25905 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
25906 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
25907 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
25908 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
25910 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
25911 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
25912 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
25913 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
25914 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
25915 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
25916 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
25918 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
25919 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
25920 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
25921 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
25922 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
25924 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
25925 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
25931 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
25932 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
25934 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
25935 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
25936 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
25937 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
25939 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
25943 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
25946 is transformed into
25949 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
25952 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
25953 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
25956 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
25959 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
25960 is slightly tricky:
25963 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
25969 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
25972 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
25978 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
25985 and is equal to the previous range.
25987 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
25988 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
25989 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
25993 range = simple-range / normal-range
25994 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
25995 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
25996 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
25997 number *[ " " contents ]
26000 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
26001 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
26002 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
26003 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
26004 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
26009 @subsection Group Info
26011 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
26012 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
26013 describes the group.
26015 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
26016 second is a more complex one:
26019 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
26021 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
26022 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
26024 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
26027 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
26028 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
26029 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
26030 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
26031 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
26032 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
26033 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
26034 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
26035 this section is about.
26037 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
26038 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
26039 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
26041 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
26044 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
26045 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
26046 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
26047 group = quote <string> quote
26048 ralevel = rank / level
26049 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
26050 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
26051 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
26053 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
26054 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
26055 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
26056 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
26059 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
26060 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
26063 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
26064 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
26067 @item gnus-info-group
26068 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
26069 @findex gnus-info-group
26070 @findex gnus-info-set-group
26071 Get/set the group name.
26073 @item gnus-info-rank
26074 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
26075 @findex gnus-info-rank
26076 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
26077 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
26079 @item gnus-info-level
26080 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
26081 @findex gnus-info-level
26082 @findex gnus-info-set-level
26083 Get/set the group level.
26085 @item gnus-info-score
26086 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
26087 @findex gnus-info-score
26088 @findex gnus-info-set-score
26089 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
26091 @item gnus-info-read
26092 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
26093 @findex gnus-info-read
26094 @findex gnus-info-set-read
26095 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
26097 @item gnus-info-marks
26098 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
26099 @findex gnus-info-marks
26100 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
26101 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
26103 @item gnus-info-method
26104 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
26105 @findex gnus-info-method
26106 @findex gnus-info-set-method
26107 Get/set the group select method.
26109 @item gnus-info-params
26110 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
26111 @findex gnus-info-params
26112 @findex gnus-info-set-params
26113 Get/set the group parameters.
26116 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
26117 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
26119 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
26120 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
26121 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
26122 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
26125 @node Extended Interactive
26126 @subsection Extended Interactive
26127 @cindex interactive
26128 @findex gnus-interactive
26130 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
26131 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
26132 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
26135 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
26136 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
26141 The best thing to do would have been to implement
26142 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
26143 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
26144 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
26145 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
26146 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
26147 @code{interactive}.
26149 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
26154 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
26155 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
26159 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
26160 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
26161 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
26164 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
26168 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
26172 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
26178 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
26179 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
26183 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
26184 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
26185 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
26187 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
26188 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
26189 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
26190 Gnus, that's very useful.
26192 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
26193 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
26194 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
26195 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
26196 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
26197 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
26198 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
26199 following function:
26202 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
26206 (,function ,@@args))
26210 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
26211 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
26212 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
26215 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
26216 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
26217 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
26219 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
26220 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
26221 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
26224 @node Various File Formats
26225 @subsection Various File Formats
26228 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
26229 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
26233 @node Active File Format
26234 @subsubsection Active File Format
26236 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
26237 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
26240 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
26243 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
26244 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
26245 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
26246 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
26247 no.general 1000 900 y
26250 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
26253 active = *group-line
26254 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
26255 group = <non-white-space string>
26257 high-number = <non-negative integer>
26258 low-number = <positive integer>
26259 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
26262 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
26263 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
26266 @node Newsgroups File Format
26267 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
26269 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
26270 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
26271 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
26274 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
26275 Here's the definition:
26279 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
26280 group = <non-white-space string>
26282 description = <string>
26287 @node Emacs for Heathens
26288 @section Emacs for Heathens
26290 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
26291 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
26292 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
26293 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
26294 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
26295 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
26296 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
26300 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
26301 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
26306 @subsection Keystrokes
26310 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
26313 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
26316 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
26317 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
26318 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
26319 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
26320 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
26321 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
26323 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
26324 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
26325 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
26326 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
26327 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
26328 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
26329 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
26331 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
26332 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
26333 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
26334 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
26335 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
26336 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
26337 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
26339 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
26340 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
26341 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
26342 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
26343 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
26349 @subsection Emacs Lisp
26351 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
26352 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
26353 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
26354 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
26356 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
26357 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
26358 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
26359 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
26360 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
26361 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
26362 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
26365 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
26366 write the following:
26369 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
26372 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
26373 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
26374 you can go and fill your @file{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
26377 If you have put that thing in your @file{.emacs} file, it will be read
26378 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
26379 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
26380 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
26381 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
26383 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
26384 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
26385 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
26389 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
26393 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
26396 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
26397 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
26400 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
26403 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
26404 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
26407 @include gnus-faq.texi
26427 @c Local Variables:
26429 @c coding: iso-8859-1
26431 % LocalWords: BNF mucho detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
26432 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
26433 % LocalWords: nnmbox newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
26434 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
26435 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref