4 @settitle T-gnus 6.15 Manual
10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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282 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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291 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
293 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
296 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
297 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
298 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
299 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
300 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
301 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
302 License'' in the Emacs manual.
304 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
305 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
306 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
308 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
309 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
310 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
311 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
319 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
321 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
322 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
324 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
325 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
326 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
327 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
328 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
329 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
330 License'' in the Emacs manual.
332 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
333 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
334 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
336 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
337 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
338 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
339 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
345 @title T-gnus 6.15 Manual
347 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
350 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
351 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
353 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
355 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
356 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
357 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
358 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
359 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
360 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
361 License'' in the Emacs manual.
363 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
364 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
365 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
367 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
368 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
369 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
370 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
379 @top The gnus Newsreader
383 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using gnus. The news
384 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
385 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
388 T-gnus provides @sc{mime} features based on @sc{semi} API. So T-gnus
389 supports your right to read strange messages including big images or
390 other various kinds of formats. T-gnus also supports
391 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
392 API. So T-gnus does not discriminate various language communities.
393 Oh, if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
395 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.15.
406 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
407 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
409 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
410 being accused of plagiarism:
412 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
413 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
414 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
415 can even read news with it!
417 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
418 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
419 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
420 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
421 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
427 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
428 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
429 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
430 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
431 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
432 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
433 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
434 * Various:: General purpose settings.
435 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
436 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
437 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
438 * Key Index:: Key Index.
440 Other related manuals
442 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
443 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; MIME-specific parts.
444 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
445 * PGG:(pgg). PGP/MIME with Gnus.
448 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
452 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
453 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
454 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
455 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
456 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
457 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
458 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
459 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
460 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
461 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
462 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
466 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
467 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
468 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
472 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
473 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
474 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
475 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
476 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
477 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
478 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
479 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
480 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
481 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
482 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
483 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
484 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
485 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
486 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
487 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
488 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
492 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
493 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
494 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
498 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
499 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
500 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
501 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
502 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
506 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
507 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
508 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
509 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
510 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
514 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
515 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
516 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
517 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
518 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
519 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
520 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
521 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
522 * Threading:: How threads are made.
523 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
524 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
525 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
526 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
527 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
528 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
529 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
530 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
531 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
532 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
533 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
534 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
535 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
536 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
537 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
538 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
539 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
540 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
541 or reselecting the current group.
542 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
543 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
544 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
545 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
547 Summary Buffer Format
549 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
550 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
551 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
552 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
556 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
557 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
559 Reply, Followup and Post
561 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
562 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
563 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
564 * Canceling and Superseding::
568 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
569 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
570 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
572 * Generic Marking Commands::
573 * Setting Process Marks::
577 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
578 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
579 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
583 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
584 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
586 Customizing Threading
588 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
589 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
590 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
591 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
595 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
596 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
597 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
598 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
599 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
600 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
604 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
605 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
606 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
610 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
611 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
612 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
613 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
614 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
615 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
616 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
617 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
618 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
619 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
621 Alternative Approaches
623 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
624 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
626 Various Summary Stuff
628 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
629 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
630 * Summary Generation Commands::
631 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
635 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
636 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
637 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
638 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
639 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
643 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
644 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
645 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
646 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
647 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
648 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
649 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
650 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
654 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
655 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
656 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
657 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
658 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
659 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
660 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
661 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
665 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
666 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
667 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
668 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
669 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
670 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
671 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
675 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
676 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
680 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
681 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
682 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
686 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
687 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
688 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
689 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
690 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
691 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
692 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
693 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
694 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
695 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
696 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
697 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
698 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
702 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
703 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
704 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
706 Choosing a Mail Back End
708 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
709 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
710 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
711 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
712 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
713 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
718 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
719 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
720 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
721 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
722 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
723 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
727 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
728 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
729 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
730 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
731 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use IMAP namespace in Gnus.
735 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
736 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
737 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
738 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
739 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
743 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
747 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
748 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
749 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
753 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
754 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
758 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
759 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
760 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
761 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
762 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
763 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
764 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
765 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
766 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
767 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
768 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
772 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
773 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
774 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
778 * Group Agent Commands::
779 * Summary Agent Commands::
780 * Server Agent Commands::
784 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
785 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
786 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
787 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
788 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
789 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
790 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
791 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
792 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
793 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
794 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
795 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
796 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
797 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
798 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
799 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
800 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
804 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
805 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
806 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
807 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
811 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
812 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
813 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
817 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
818 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
819 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
820 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
821 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
822 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
823 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
824 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
825 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
826 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
827 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
828 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
829 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
830 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
831 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
832 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
833 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
834 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
835 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
839 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
840 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
841 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
842 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
843 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
844 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
845 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
846 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
850 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
851 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
852 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
853 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
854 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
858 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
859 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
860 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
861 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
862 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
866 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
867 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
868 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
869 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
870 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
871 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
875 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
876 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
877 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
878 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
879 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
880 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
881 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
882 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
883 * Frequently Asked Questions::
887 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
888 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
889 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
890 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
891 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
892 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
893 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
894 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
895 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
899 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
900 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
901 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
902 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
903 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
907 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
908 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
909 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
910 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
914 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
915 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
916 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
917 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
918 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
919 * Group Info:: The group info format.
920 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
921 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
922 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
926 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
927 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
928 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
929 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
930 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
931 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
935 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
936 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
940 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
941 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
947 @chapter Starting gnus
952 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
953 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
956 @findex gnus-other-frame
957 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
958 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
959 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
961 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
962 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
963 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
965 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
966 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
969 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
970 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
971 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
972 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
973 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
974 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
975 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
976 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
977 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
978 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
979 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
983 @node Finding the News
984 @section Finding the News
987 @vindex gnus-select-method
989 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
990 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
991 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
992 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
995 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
996 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
999 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1002 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1005 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1008 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1009 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1010 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1012 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1014 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
1015 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
1016 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1017 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1018 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
1019 that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
1021 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1022 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1023 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1024 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1026 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1027 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1028 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1029 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1030 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
1031 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1032 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1033 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1034 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1037 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1039 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
1040 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1041 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1042 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1043 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1044 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1046 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1048 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1049 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1050 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1051 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1052 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1053 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1056 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1057 you would typically set this variable to
1060 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1064 @node The First Time
1065 @section The First Time
1066 @cindex first time usage
1068 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
1069 be subscribed by default.
1071 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1072 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
1073 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1074 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1077 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1078 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1079 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1081 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
1082 help you with most common problems.
1084 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
1085 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1089 @node The Server is Down
1090 @section The Server is Down
1091 @cindex server errors
1093 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
1094 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1095 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
1097 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1098 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1099 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1100 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1101 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1102 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1103 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1105 @findex gnus-no-server
1106 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1108 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1109 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1110 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
1111 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1112 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1113 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1114 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1118 @section Slave Gnusae
1121 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
1122 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1123 are using the two different gnusae to read from two different servers),
1124 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1126 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1127 @code{.newsrc} file.
1129 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
1130 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1131 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1132 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1133 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1134 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1135 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1137 Anyway, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1138 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
1139 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1140 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1141 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
1142 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1143 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1144 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1146 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1147 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1149 If the @code{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1150 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1151 file. If you answer "yes", the unsaved changes to the master will be
1152 incorporated into the slave. If you answer "no", the slave may see some
1153 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1155 @node Fetching a Group
1156 @section Fetching a Group
1157 @cindex fetching a group
1159 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1160 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1161 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
1162 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1163 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1164 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1170 @cindex subscription
1172 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1173 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1174 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1175 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1176 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1177 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1178 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1179 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1180 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1183 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1184 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1185 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1189 @node Checking New Groups
1190 @subsection Checking New Groups
1192 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1193 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1194 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1195 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
1196 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1197 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1198 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1199 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1200 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1201 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1203 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1204 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1205 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1206 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1207 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1208 work. I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server
1209 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1210 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1211 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1212 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1213 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1215 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
1216 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1217 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1218 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1219 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1220 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1223 @node Subscription Methods
1224 @subsection Subscription Methods
1226 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1227 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1228 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1230 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1231 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1233 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1237 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1238 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1239 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1240 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1241 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1243 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1244 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1245 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1246 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1248 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1249 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1250 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1252 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1253 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1254 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1255 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1256 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1257 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1258 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1259 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1260 up. Or something like that.
1262 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1263 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1264 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask
1265 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1266 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1268 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1269 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1270 Kill all new groups.
1272 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1273 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1274 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1275 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1276 topic parameter that looks like
1282 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1285 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1290 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1291 A closely related variable is
1292 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1293 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
1294 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1295 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1298 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1299 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1300 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1301 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1304 @node Filtering New Groups
1305 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1307 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1308 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1309 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1312 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1315 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1316 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1317 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1318 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1319 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1320 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1321 subscribing these groups.
1322 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1323 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1325 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1326 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1327 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1328 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1329 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1330 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1331 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1332 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1334 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1335 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1336 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1337 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1338 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1339 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1340 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1341 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1342 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1343 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1346 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1347 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1350 @node Changing Servers
1351 @section Changing Servers
1352 @cindex changing servers
1354 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1355 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1356 very flaky and you want to use another.
1358 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1359 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1363 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1364 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1365 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1366 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1369 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1370 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1371 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1372 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1374 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1375 @findex gnus-change-server
1376 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1377 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1378 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1379 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1380 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1382 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1383 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1384 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1385 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1386 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1388 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1389 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1390 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1391 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1392 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1393 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1395 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1396 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1397 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1398 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1400 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1401 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1402 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1403 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1404 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1405 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1406 cache for all groups).
1410 @section Startup Files
1411 @cindex startup files
1416 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1417 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1419 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1420 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1421 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1422 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1423 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1424 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1425 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1427 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1428 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1429 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1430 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1431 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1432 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1434 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1435 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1436 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1437 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1438 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
1439 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1440 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1441 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes gnus ignore the
1442 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1443 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1445 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1446 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1447 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1448 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1449 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1450 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1451 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1452 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1453 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1454 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1455 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1456 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1458 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1459 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1460 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1461 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1463 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1464 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1465 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1466 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1467 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1468 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1469 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1470 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1471 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1472 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1475 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1476 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1478 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1479 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1482 @vindex gnus-init-file
1483 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1484 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1485 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1486 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1487 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1488 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1489 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1490 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1491 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1492 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1498 @cindex dribble file
1501 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
1502 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1503 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1504 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1505 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1508 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1509 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1512 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1513 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
1514 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1516 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1517 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1518 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
1519 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1520 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1521 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1523 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1524 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1525 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1528 @node The Active File
1529 @section The Active File
1531 @cindex ignored groups
1533 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1534 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1535 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1537 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1538 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
1539 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1540 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
1541 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1542 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1543 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1546 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1547 @c if you set it to anything else.
1549 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1551 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1552 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
1553 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1555 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1556 you actually subscribe to.
1558 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1559 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
1560 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
1561 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1563 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1564 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1565 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1566 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1567 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1568 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1570 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1571 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1572 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1575 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
1576 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1577 @sc{nntp} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1578 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1579 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1580 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1582 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1583 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1585 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1586 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1588 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1589 secondary select methods.
1592 @node Startup Variables
1593 @section Startup Variables
1597 @item gnus-load-hook
1598 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1599 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1600 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1601 times you start gnus.
1603 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1604 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1605 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1607 @item gnus-startup-hook
1608 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1609 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1611 @item gnus-started-hook
1612 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1613 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1616 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1617 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1618 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1619 generating the group buffer.
1621 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1622 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1623 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1624 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1625 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1626 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1627 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1628 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1630 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1631 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1632 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1633 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1634 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1635 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1637 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1638 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1639 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1641 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1642 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1643 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1645 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1646 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1647 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1648 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1654 @chapter Group Buffer
1655 @cindex group buffer
1657 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1659 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1660 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1661 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1662 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1663 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1664 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1665 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1666 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1667 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1668 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1669 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1670 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1671 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1672 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1673 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1674 @c human rights at 9...
1677 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1678 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1679 long as gnus is active.
1683 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1684 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1685 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1686 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1687 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1688 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1689 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1690 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1696 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1697 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1698 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1699 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1700 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1701 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1702 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1703 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1704 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1705 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1706 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1707 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1708 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1709 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1710 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1711 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1712 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1716 @node Group Buffer Format
1717 @section Group Buffer Format
1720 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1721 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1722 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1726 @node Group Line Specification
1727 @subsection Group Line Specification
1728 @cindex group buffer format
1730 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1731 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1733 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1736 25: news.announce.newusers
1737 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1742 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1743 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1744 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1745 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1747 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1748 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1749 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1750 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1751 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1752 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1754 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1756 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1757 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1758 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1759 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1760 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1762 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1763 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1764 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1766 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1771 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1774 Whether the group is subscribed.
1777 Level of subscribedness.
1780 Number of unread articles.
1783 Number of dormant articles.
1786 Number of ticked articles.
1789 Number of read articles.
1792 Number of unseen articles.
1795 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1796 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1798 Gnus uses this estimation because the @sc{nntp} protocol provides
1799 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1800 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1801 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1802 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1803 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1804 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1805 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1808 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1811 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1820 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1821 comment element in the group parameters.
1824 Newsgroup description.
1827 @samp{m} if moderated.
1830 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1836 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1842 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1846 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1849 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1850 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1851 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1852 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1853 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1856 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1858 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1862 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1865 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1869 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1870 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1871 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1872 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1873 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1874 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1879 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1880 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1881 group, or a bogus native group.
1884 @node Group Modeline Specification
1885 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1886 @cindex group modeline
1888 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1889 The mode line can be changed by setting
1890 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1891 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1895 The native news server.
1897 The native select method.
1901 @node Group Highlighting
1902 @subsection Group Highlighting
1903 @cindex highlighting
1904 @cindex group highlighting
1906 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1907 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1908 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1909 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1910 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1912 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1916 (cond (window-system
1917 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1918 (defface my-group-face-1
1919 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1920 (defface my-group-face-2
1921 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1922 (defface my-group-face-3
1923 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1924 (defface my-group-face-4
1925 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1926 (defface my-group-face-5
1927 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1929 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1930 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1931 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1932 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1933 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1934 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1937 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1939 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1946 The number of unread articles in the group.
1950 Whether the group is a mail group.
1952 The level of the group.
1954 The score of the group.
1956 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1958 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1959 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1961 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1962 topic being inserted.
1965 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1966 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
1967 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1969 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1970 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1971 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1972 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1973 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1976 @node Group Maneuvering
1977 @section Group Maneuvering
1978 @cindex group movement
1980 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1981 expected, hopefully.
1987 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1988 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1989 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1995 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1996 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1997 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2001 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2002 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2006 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2007 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2011 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2012 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2013 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2017 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2018 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2019 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2022 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2028 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2029 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2030 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2035 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2036 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2037 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2041 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2042 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2043 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2046 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2047 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2048 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2049 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2053 @node Selecting a Group
2054 @section Selecting a Group
2055 @cindex group selection
2060 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2061 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2062 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2063 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2064 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2065 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2066 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
2067 determines the number of articles gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
2068 positive, gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
2069 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
2071 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2072 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2073 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2075 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2076 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2081 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2082 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2083 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2084 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2085 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2089 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2090 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2091 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2092 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2093 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2094 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2095 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2096 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2097 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2098 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2101 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2102 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2103 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2104 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2105 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2108 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2109 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2110 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2111 doing any processing of its contents
2112 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2113 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2114 manner will have no permanent effects.
2118 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2119 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what gnus should consider
2120 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
2121 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
2122 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2123 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2124 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2125 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2128 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2129 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2130 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2131 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2132 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2133 Which article this is is controlled by the
2134 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2140 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2143 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2146 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2148 @item unseen-or-unread
2149 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2150 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2154 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2158 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2159 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2161 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2162 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2163 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2164 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2168 @node Subscription Commands
2169 @section Subscription Commands
2170 @cindex subscription
2178 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2179 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2180 Toggle subscription to the current group
2181 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2187 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2188 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2189 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2190 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2196 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2197 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2198 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2204 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2205 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2208 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2209 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2210 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2211 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2212 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2218 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2219 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2223 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2224 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2227 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2228 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2229 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2230 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2231 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2232 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2233 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2234 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2235 @file{.newsrc} file.
2239 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2249 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2250 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2251 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2252 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2253 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2254 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2259 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2260 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2261 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2265 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2266 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2267 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2269 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2270 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2271 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2272 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2273 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2274 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2281 @section Group Levels
2285 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2286 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2287 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2288 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2289 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2291 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2297 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2298 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2299 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2300 prompted for a level.
2303 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2304 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2305 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2306 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2307 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2308 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2309 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2310 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2311 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2312 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2313 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2314 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2315 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2316 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2317 reasons of efficiency.
2319 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2320 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2322 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2323 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2324 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2325 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2326 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2327 groups are hidden, in a way.
2329 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2330 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2331 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2332 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2333 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2334 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2336 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2337 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2338 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2339 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2340 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2341 list of killed groups.)
2343 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2344 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2345 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2347 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2348 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2349 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2350 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2351 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2352 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2353 relevant valid ranges.
2355 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2356 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2357 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2358 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2359 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2360 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2363 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2364 one with the best level.
2366 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2367 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2368 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2371 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2372 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2373 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2374 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2377 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2378 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2379 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2380 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2382 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2383 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2384 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2385 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2386 to 5. The default is 6.
2390 @section Group Score
2395 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2396 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2397 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2400 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2401 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2402 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2403 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2404 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2405 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2406 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2407 least significant part.))
2409 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2410 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2411 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2412 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2413 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2414 action after each summary exit, you can add
2415 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2416 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2417 slow things down somewhat.
2420 @node Marking Groups
2421 @section Marking Groups
2422 @cindex marking groups
2424 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2425 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2426 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2427 bidding on those groups.
2429 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2430 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2431 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2439 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2440 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2446 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2447 Remove the mark from the current group
2448 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2452 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2453 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2457 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2458 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2462 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2463 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2467 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2468 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2469 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2472 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2474 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2475 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2476 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2477 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2478 the command to be executed.
2481 @node Foreign Groups
2482 @section Foreign Groups
2483 @cindex foreign groups
2485 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2486 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2487 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2488 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2495 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2496 @cindex making groups
2497 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2498 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2499 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2503 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2504 @cindex renaming groups
2505 Rename the current group to something else
2506 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2507 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2513 @findex gnus-group-customize
2514 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2518 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2519 @cindex renaming groups
2520 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2521 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2525 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2526 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2527 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2531 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2532 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2533 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2537 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2539 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2540 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2545 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2546 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2550 @cindex (ding) archive
2551 @cindex archive group
2552 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2553 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2554 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2555 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2556 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2557 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2558 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2562 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2564 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2565 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2566 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2567 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2571 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2573 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2574 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2575 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2579 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2580 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2582 Make a group based on some file or other
2583 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2584 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2585 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2586 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2587 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2588 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2589 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2590 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2591 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2595 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2596 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2597 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2598 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2602 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2606 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2607 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2608 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2609 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2610 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2611 @xref{Web Searches}.
2613 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2614 to a particular group by using a match string like
2615 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2618 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2619 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2620 This function will delete the current group
2621 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2622 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2623 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2624 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2625 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2629 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2630 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2631 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2635 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2636 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2637 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2640 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2643 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2644 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2645 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2646 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2647 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2648 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2652 @node Group Parameters
2653 @section Group Parameters
2654 @cindex group parameters
2656 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2657 Here's an example group parameter list:
2660 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2664 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2665 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2666 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2667 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2669 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2670 is an alist of regexps and values.
2672 The following group parameters can be used:
2677 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2680 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2683 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2684 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2685 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2686 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2687 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2689 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2690 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2691 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2692 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2693 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2694 list address instead.
2696 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2700 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2703 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2706 It is totally ignored
2707 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2708 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2710 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2711 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2712 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2713 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2714 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2716 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2717 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2718 sending the message.
2720 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2721 @cindex Mail List Groups
2722 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2723 entering summary buffer.
2725 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2730 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2731 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2732 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2733 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2734 headers for your posts to these lists. Look here @pxref{(message)Mailing
2735 Lists} for a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2737 See also @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses}, the function that
2738 directly uses this group parameter.
2742 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2743 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2744 of whether it has any unread articles.
2746 @item broken-reply-to
2747 @cindex broken-reply-to
2748 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2749 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2750 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2751 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2752 broken behavior. So there!
2756 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2757 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2761 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2762 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2763 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2768 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2769 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2770 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2771 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2772 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2773 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2774 (@pxref{Archived Messages}). CAVEAT:: It yields an error putting
2775 @code{(gcc-self . t)} in groups of a @code{nntp} server or so, because
2776 a @code{nntp} server doesn't accept articles.
2780 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2781 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2782 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2784 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2787 @cindex total-expire
2788 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2789 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2790 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2791 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2794 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2798 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2799 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2800 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2801 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2802 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2803 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2804 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2807 @cindex score file group parameter
2808 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2809 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2810 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2813 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2814 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2815 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2816 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2819 @cindex admin-address
2820 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2821 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2822 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2823 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2827 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2828 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2832 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2835 Display the last INTEGER articles in the group. This is the same as
2836 entering the group with C-u INTEGER.
2839 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2843 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2845 Here are some examples:
2849 Display only unread articles.
2852 Display everything except expirable articles.
2854 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2855 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2859 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2860 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2861 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2862 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2863 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2867 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2868 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2869 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2873 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2874 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2875 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2879 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2880 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2881 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2883 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2885 @item ignored-charsets
2886 @cindex ignored-charset
2887 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2888 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2889 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2891 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2894 @cindex posting-style
2895 You can store additional posting style information for this group
2896 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2897 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2898 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2899 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2901 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2902 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2903 like this in the group parameters:
2908 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
2909 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2914 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2915 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2919 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2920 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2921 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2922 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2923 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2927 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2928 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2929 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2930 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2932 For example, if the INBOX.list.sieve group has the @code{(sieve
2933 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2934 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2935 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2938 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2939 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2943 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, , Top, sieve,
2946 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2947 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2948 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2949 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2950 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2951 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2952 @code{eval}ed there.
2954 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
2955 A use for this feature, is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
2956 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
2957 @samp{nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps} has the tag
2958 @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this tag can be
2959 removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for the group by
2960 putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")} into the group
2961 parameters for the group.
2964 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2965 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2966 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2967 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2968 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2972 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2973 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2974 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2975 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2976 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2978 @vindex gnus-parameters
2979 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
2980 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
2984 (setq gnus-parameters
2986 (gnus-show-threads nil)
2987 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
2988 (gnus-summary-line-format
2989 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
2993 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
2997 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3001 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3004 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3005 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3008 @node Listing Groups
3009 @section Listing Groups
3010 @cindex group listing
3012 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3020 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3021 List all groups that have unread articles
3022 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3023 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3024 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
3025 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3032 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3033 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3034 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3035 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3036 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3037 unsubscribed groups).
3041 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3042 List all unread groups on a specific level
3043 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3044 with no unread articles.
3048 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3049 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3050 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3051 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3056 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3057 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3061 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3062 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3063 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3067 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3068 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3072 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3073 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3074 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3075 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3076 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3077 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3078 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3079 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3083 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3084 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3085 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3089 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3090 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3091 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3095 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3096 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3100 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3101 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3105 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3106 List groups limited within the current selection
3107 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3111 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3112 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3116 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3117 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3121 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3122 @cindex visible group parameter
3123 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3124 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3125 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3126 get the same effect.
3128 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3129 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3130 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3131 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3132 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3135 @node Sorting Groups
3136 @section Sorting Groups
3137 @cindex sorting groups
3139 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3140 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3141 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3142 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3143 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3144 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3149 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3150 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3151 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3153 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3154 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3155 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3157 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3158 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3159 Sort by group level.
3161 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3162 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3163 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3165 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3166 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3167 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3168 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3170 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3171 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3172 Sort by number of unread articles.
3174 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3175 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3176 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3178 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3179 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3180 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3185 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3186 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3190 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3191 some sorting criteria:
3195 @kindex G S a (Group)
3196 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3197 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3198 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3201 @kindex G S u (Group)
3202 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3203 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3204 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3207 @kindex G S l (Group)
3208 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3209 Sort the group buffer by group level
3210 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3213 @kindex G S v (Group)
3214 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3215 Sort the group buffer by group score
3216 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3219 @kindex G S r (Group)
3220 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3221 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3222 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3225 @kindex G S m (Group)
3226 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3227 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name
3228 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3231 @kindex G S n (Group)
3232 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3233 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3234 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3238 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3239 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3241 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3242 commands will sort in reverse order.
3244 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3248 @kindex G P a (Group)
3249 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3250 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3251 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3254 @kindex G P u (Group)
3255 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3256 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3257 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3260 @kindex G P l (Group)
3261 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3262 Sort the groups by group level
3263 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3266 @kindex G P v (Group)
3267 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3268 Sort the groups by group score
3269 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3272 @kindex G P r (Group)
3273 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3274 Sort the groups by group rank
3275 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3278 @kindex G P m (Group)
3279 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3280 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name
3281 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3284 @kindex G P n (Group)
3285 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3286 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3287 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3290 @kindex G P s (Group)
3291 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3292 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3296 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3300 @node Group Maintenance
3301 @section Group Maintenance
3302 @cindex bogus groups
3307 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3308 Find bogus groups and delete them
3309 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3313 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3314 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3315 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3316 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3317 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3321 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3322 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3323 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3324 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3325 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3326 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3329 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3330 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3331 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3332 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3337 @node Browse Foreign Server
3338 @section Browse Foreign Server
3339 @cindex foreign servers
3340 @cindex browsing servers
3345 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3346 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3347 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3348 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3351 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3352 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3353 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3354 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3356 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3361 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3362 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3366 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3367 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3370 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3371 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3372 Enter the current group and display the first article
3373 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3376 @kindex RET (Browse)
3377 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3378 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3382 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3383 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3384 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3390 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3391 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3395 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3396 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3400 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3401 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3402 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3407 @section Exiting gnus
3408 @cindex exiting gnus
3410 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
3415 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3416 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
3417 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3418 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3422 @findex gnus-group-exit
3423 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3424 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3428 @findex gnus-group-quit
3429 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3430 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3433 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3434 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3435 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
3436 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
3437 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3442 If you wish to completely unload gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3443 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3444 trying to customize meta-variables.
3449 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3450 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3451 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3457 @section Group Topics
3460 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3461 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3462 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3463 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3464 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3465 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3469 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3470 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3481 2: alt.religion.emacs
3484 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3486 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3487 13: comp.sources.unix
3490 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3492 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3493 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3494 is a toggling command.)
3496 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3497 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and
3498 now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3499 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3502 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3503 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3504 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3507 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3511 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3512 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3513 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3514 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3515 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3519 @node Topic Commands
3520 @subsection Topic Commands
3521 @cindex topic commands
3523 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3524 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3525 definitions slightly.
3527 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3528 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3529 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3530 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3531 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3532 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3534 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3541 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3542 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3543 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3547 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3549 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3550 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3551 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3552 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3555 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3556 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3557 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3558 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3562 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3563 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3564 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3565 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3571 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3572 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3573 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3577 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3578 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3579 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3582 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3583 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the `cut' part of cut and paste. Then,
3584 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the `Gnus'
3585 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the `paste' part of cut and
3586 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3588 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3589 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3593 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3594 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3601 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3603 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3604 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3605 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3606 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3607 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3608 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3612 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3618 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3619 Move the current group to some other topic
3620 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3621 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3625 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3626 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3630 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3631 Copy the current group to some other topic
3632 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3633 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3637 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3638 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3639 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3643 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3644 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3645 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3649 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3650 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3651 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3652 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3653 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3654 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3655 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3658 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3659 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3663 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3664 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3665 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3669 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3670 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3671 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3675 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3676 Toggle hiding empty topics
3677 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3681 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3682 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3683 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3686 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3687 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3688 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3689 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3692 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3693 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3694 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3695 expiry process (if any)
3696 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3700 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3701 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3704 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3705 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3706 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3710 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3711 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3712 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3715 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3716 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3717 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3720 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3721 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3722 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3726 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3727 @cindex group parameters
3728 @cindex topic parameters
3730 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3731 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3736 @node Topic Variables
3737 @subsection Topic Variables
3738 @cindex topic variables
3740 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3741 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3743 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3744 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3745 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3758 Number of groups in the topic.
3760 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3762 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3765 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3766 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3767 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3770 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3771 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3773 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3774 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3775 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3779 @subsection Topic Sorting
3780 @cindex topic sorting
3782 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3788 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3789 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3790 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3791 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3794 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3795 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3796 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3797 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3800 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3801 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3802 Sort the current topic by group level
3803 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3806 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3807 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3808 Sort the current topic by group score
3809 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3812 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3813 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3814 Sort the current topic by group rank
3815 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3818 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3819 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3820 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3821 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3824 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3825 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3826 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3827 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3831 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3832 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3833 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3834 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3838 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3839 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3843 @node Topic Topology
3844 @subsection Topic Topology
3845 @cindex topic topology
3848 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3854 2: alt.religion.emacs
3857 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3859 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3860 13: comp.sources.unix
3863 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3864 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3865 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3870 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3871 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3875 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3876 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3877 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3878 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3879 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3880 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3882 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3883 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3884 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3887 @node Topic Parameters
3888 @subsection Topic Parameters
3889 @cindex topic parameters
3891 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3892 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3893 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3895 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3900 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3901 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3902 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3905 @item subscribe-level
3906 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3907 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3908 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3912 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3913 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3914 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3915 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3921 2: alt.religion.emacs
3925 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3927 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3928 13: comp.sources.unix
3932 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3933 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3934 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3935 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3936 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3937 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3939 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3940 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3941 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3942 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3943 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3945 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3946 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3947 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3948 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3949 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3950 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3951 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3952 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3955 @node Misc Group Stuff
3956 @section Misc Group Stuff
3959 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3960 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3961 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3962 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3963 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
3970 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3971 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3972 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3976 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3977 Start composing a message (a news by default)
3978 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
3979 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
3980 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
3981 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
3982 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3986 @findex gnus-group-mail
3987 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
3988 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
3989 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
3990 @xref{Composing Messages}.
3994 @findex gnus-group-news
3995 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
3996 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
3997 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3999 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4000 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
4001 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4002 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4003 for this to work though.
4007 Variables for the group buffer:
4011 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4012 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4013 is called after the group buffer has been
4016 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4017 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4018 is called after the group buffer is
4019 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4022 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4023 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4024 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4025 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4027 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4028 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4029 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4030 whether they are empty or not.
4032 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4033 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4034 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4035 non-ASCII group names.
4039 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4040 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4043 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4044 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4045 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4046 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4047 is used to show non-ASCII group names. @code{((".*" utf-8))} is the
4048 default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the default is
4053 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4054 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4059 @node Scanning New Messages
4060 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4061 @cindex new messages
4062 @cindex scanning new news
4068 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4069 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4070 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4071 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4072 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4073 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4078 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4079 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4080 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4081 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4082 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4083 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4084 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4086 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4087 @cindex activating groups
4089 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4090 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4095 @findex gnus-group-restart
4096 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4097 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4098 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
4102 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4103 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4105 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4106 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4110 @node Group Information
4111 @subsection Group Information
4112 @cindex group information
4113 @cindex information on groups
4120 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4121 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4124 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
4125 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
4126 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
4127 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
4128 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4129 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
4130 for fetching the file.
4132 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
4133 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4137 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4138 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4140 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4141 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4144 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4145 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4146 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4150 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4151 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4152 @cindex control message
4153 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4154 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4155 group if given a prefix argument.
4157 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4158 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4159 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4160 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4162 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4163 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode}
4164 (@pxref{(emacs)Compressed Files}).
4168 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4170 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4171 @cindex describing groups
4172 @cindex group description
4173 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4174 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4175 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4179 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4180 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4181 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4188 @findex gnus-version
4189 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4193 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4194 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4197 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4200 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4201 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4205 @node Group Timestamp
4206 @subsection Group Timestamp
4208 @cindex group timestamps
4210 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
4211 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4212 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4215 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4218 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4220 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4221 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4224 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4225 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4228 This will result in lines looking like:
4231 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4232 0: custom 19961002T012713
4235 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4236 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4240 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4241 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4244 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4245 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4249 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4250 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4251 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4252 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4254 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4260 @subsection File Commands
4261 @cindex file commands
4267 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4268 @vindex gnus-init-file
4269 @cindex reading init file
4270 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4271 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4275 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4276 @cindex saving .newsrc
4277 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4278 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4279 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4282 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4283 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4284 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4289 @node Sieve Commands
4290 @subsection Sieve Commands
4291 @cindex group sieve commands
4293 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4294 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4295 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4296 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4297 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4299 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4300 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4301 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4302 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4303 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4304 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4305 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4306 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4307 regenerate the Sieve script.
4309 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4310 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4311 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4312 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4313 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4314 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4315 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4316 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4317 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4318 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4321 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4322 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4327 @xref{Top, ,Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4333 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4334 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4335 @cindex generating sieve script
4336 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4337 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4341 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4342 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4343 @cindex updating sieve script
4344 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4345 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4346 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4351 @node Summary Buffer
4352 @chapter Summary Buffer
4353 @cindex summary buffer
4355 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4356 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4358 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4359 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4361 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4364 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4365 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4366 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4367 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4368 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4369 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4370 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4371 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4372 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4373 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4374 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4375 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4376 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4377 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4378 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4379 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4380 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4381 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4382 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4383 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4384 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4385 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4386 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4387 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4388 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4389 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4390 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4391 or reselecting the current group.
4392 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4393 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4394 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4395 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4399 @node Summary Buffer Format
4400 @section Summary Buffer Format
4401 @cindex summary buffer format
4405 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4406 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4407 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4413 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4414 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4415 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4416 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4419 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4420 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4421 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4422 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4423 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4424 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
4425 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4426 fast, and too simplistic solution;
4427 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
4428 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
4429 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
4430 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
4431 other function instead:
4434 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4435 'mail-extract-address-components)
4438 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4439 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4440 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4441 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4444 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4445 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4447 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4448 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4449 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4450 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4451 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4453 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4454 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4455 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4456 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4457 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4458 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4460 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4462 The following format specification characters and extended format
4463 specification(s) are understood:
4469 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4470 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4472 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4473 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4474 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4476 Full @code{From} header.
4478 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4480 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4483 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4484 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4485 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4486 may be more thorough.
4488 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4491 Number of lines in the article.
4493 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4494 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4496 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4497 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4499 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4501 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4502 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4515 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4516 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4517 replacing the default ASCII characters with graphic line-drawing
4520 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4521 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4522 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4523 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4525 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4526 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4527 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4528 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4530 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4531 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4532 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4534 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4535 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4536 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4538 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4539 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4540 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4542 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4543 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4544 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4549 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4550 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4552 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4553 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4555 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4556 for adopted articles.
4558 One space for each thread level.
4560 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4562 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4565 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4566 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4567 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4570 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4572 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4573 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4574 default level. If the difference between
4575 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4576 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4584 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4586 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4592 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4593 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4595 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4596 article has any children.
4602 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4603 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4605 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4606 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4607 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4608 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4609 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4610 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4613 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4614 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4615 There can only be one such area.
4617 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4618 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
4619 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4620 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4621 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4622 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4624 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4625 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4627 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
4630 @node To From Newsgroups
4631 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4635 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4636 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4637 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4638 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4639 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4643 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4644 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4645 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4649 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4650 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4653 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4654 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4657 @findex gnus-extra-header
4658 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4659 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4660 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4663 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4667 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4668 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4669 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4670 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4671 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4672 headers are used instead.
4676 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4677 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4678 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4679 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4680 this variable, by entering the server buffer using `^', and then `g' on
4681 the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause regeneration.
4683 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4684 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4685 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4686 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4688 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4692 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4694 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4695 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4696 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4697 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4701 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4704 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4705 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4708 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4709 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4710 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4716 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4717 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4720 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4721 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4723 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4724 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4725 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4726 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4728 Here are the elements you can play with:
4734 Unprefixed group name.
4736 Current article number.
4738 Current article score.
4742 Number of unread articles in this group.
4744 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4747 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4748 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4749 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4750 and no unselected ones.
4752 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4753 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4755 Subject of the current article.
4757 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4759 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4761 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4763 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4765 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4767 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4771 @node Summary Highlighting
4772 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4776 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4777 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4778 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4779 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4780 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4782 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4783 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4784 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4785 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4787 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4788 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4789 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4790 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4792 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4793 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4794 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4795 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4796 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4797 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4800 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4801 ((> score default) . bold))
4803 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4804 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4808 @node Summary Maneuvering
4809 @section Summary Maneuvering
4810 @cindex summary movement
4812 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4813 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4815 None of these commands select articles.
4820 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4821 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4822 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4823 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4824 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4828 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4829 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4830 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4831 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4832 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4835 @kindex G g (Summary)
4836 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4837 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4838 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4841 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4842 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4843 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4844 to the group buffer.
4846 Variables related to summary movement:
4850 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4851 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4852 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4853 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
4854 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4855 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4856 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
4857 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4858 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4859 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4860 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4861 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4862 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4863 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4865 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4866 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4867 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4868 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4869 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4870 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4871 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4873 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4875 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4876 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4877 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4878 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4879 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4881 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4882 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4883 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4884 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4885 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4886 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4887 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4888 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4891 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4892 the given number of lines from the top.
4897 @node Choosing Articles
4898 @section Choosing Articles
4899 @cindex selecting articles
4902 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4903 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4907 @node Choosing Commands
4908 @subsection Choosing Commands
4910 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4911 and they all select and display an article.
4913 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4914 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4918 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4919 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4920 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4921 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4926 @kindex G n (Summary)
4927 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4928 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4929 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4934 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4935 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4936 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4941 @kindex G N (Summary)
4942 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4943 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4948 @kindex G P (Summary)
4949 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4950 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4953 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4954 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4955 Go to the next article with the same subject
4956 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4959 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4960 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4961 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4962 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4966 @kindex G f (Summary)
4968 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4969 Go to the first unread article
4970 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4974 @kindex G b (Summary)
4976 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4977 Go to the unread article with the highest score
4978 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
4979 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
4984 @kindex G l (Summary)
4985 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4986 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4989 @kindex G o (Summary)
4990 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4992 @cindex article history
4993 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4994 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4995 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4996 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4997 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4998 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5003 @kindex G j (Summary)
5004 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5005 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5006 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5011 @node Choosing Variables
5012 @subsection Choosing Variables
5014 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5017 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5018 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5019 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5020 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5021 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5022 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5024 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5025 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5026 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
5027 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. If you wish
5028 that the Agent saves all articles you read, putting
5029 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this hook should do it.
5031 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5032 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5033 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5034 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5035 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5036 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5037 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5038 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5039 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
5040 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5041 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5042 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5043 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5044 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5049 @node Paging the Article
5050 @section Scrolling the Article
5051 @cindex article scrolling
5056 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5057 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5058 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5059 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5060 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5063 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5064 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5065 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5068 @kindex RET (Summary)
5069 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5070 Scroll the current article one line forward
5071 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5074 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5075 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5076 Scroll the current article one line backward
5077 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5081 @kindex A g (Summary)
5083 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5084 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5085 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5086 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5087 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5088 the way it came from the server.
5090 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5091 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5092 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5095 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5100 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5105 @kindex A < (Summary)
5106 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5107 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5108 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5113 @kindex A > (Summary)
5114 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5115 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5119 @kindex A s (Summary)
5121 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5122 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5123 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5127 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5128 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5133 @node Reply Followup and Post
5134 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5137 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5138 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5139 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5140 * Canceling and Superseding::
5144 @node Summary Mail Commands
5145 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5147 @cindex composing mail
5149 Commands for composing a mail message:
5155 @kindex S r (Summary)
5157 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5158 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5159 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5160 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5161 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5166 @kindex S R (Summary)
5167 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5168 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5169 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5170 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5171 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5174 @kindex S w (Summary)
5175 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5176 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5177 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5178 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5179 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
5182 @kindex S W (Summary)
5183 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5184 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5185 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5186 the process/prefix convention.
5189 @kindex S v (Summary)
5190 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5191 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5192 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5193 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5194 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5195 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5198 @kindex S V (Summary)
5199 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5200 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5201 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5202 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5205 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5206 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5207 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5208 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5211 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5212 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5213 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5214 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5215 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5219 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5220 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5221 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5222 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5223 Forward the current article to some other person
5224 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5225 headers of the forwarded article.
5230 @kindex S m (Summary)
5231 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5232 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5233 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5234 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5235 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5240 @kindex S i (Summary)
5241 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5242 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5243 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5244 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5246 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5247 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
5248 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5249 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5250 for this to work though.
5253 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5254 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5255 @cindex bouncing mail
5256 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5257 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5258 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5259 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5260 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5261 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
5262 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5263 very well fail, though.
5266 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5267 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5268 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5269 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5270 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5271 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5272 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5273 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5274 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5275 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5277 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5278 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5279 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5280 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5281 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5283 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5284 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5287 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5288 @findex gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward
5289 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5290 result using mail (@code{gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward}). This
5291 command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5294 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5295 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5296 @cindex crossposting
5297 @cindex excessive crossposting
5298 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5299 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5301 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5302 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5303 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5304 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5305 command understands the process/prefix convention
5306 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5310 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5311 Manual}, for more information.
5314 @node Summary Post Commands
5315 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5317 @cindex composing news
5319 Commands for posting a news article:
5325 @kindex S p (Summary)
5326 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5327 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5328 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5329 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5330 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5335 @kindex S f (Summary)
5336 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5337 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5338 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5342 @kindex S F (Summary)
5344 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5345 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5346 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5347 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5348 process/prefix convention.
5351 @kindex S n (Summary)
5352 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5353 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5354 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5357 @kindex S N (Summary)
5358 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5359 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5360 message through mail and include the original message
5361 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5362 the process/prefix convention.
5365 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5366 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5367 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5368 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5369 headers of the forwarded article.
5372 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5373 @findex gnus-summary-digest-post-forward
5375 @cindex making digests
5376 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5377 (@code{gnus-summary-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
5378 process/prefix convention.
5381 @kindex S u (Summary)
5382 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5383 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5384 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5385 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5388 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5389 Manual}, for more information.
5392 @node Summary Message Commands
5393 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5397 @kindex S y (Summary)
5398 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5399 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5400 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5401 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5402 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5407 @node Canceling and Superseding
5408 @subsection Canceling Articles
5409 @cindex canceling articles
5410 @cindex superseding articles
5412 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5413 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5415 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5417 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5419 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5420 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5421 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5422 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5423 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5424 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5426 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5427 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5430 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5431 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5432 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5434 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5435 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5436 your original article.
5438 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5440 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5441 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5442 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5445 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5446 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5447 have posted almost the same article twice.
5449 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5450 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5451 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5452 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5453 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5454 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5455 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5456 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5457 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5458 canceled/superseded.
5460 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5462 @node Delayed Articles
5463 @section Delayed Articles
5464 @cindex delayed sending
5465 @cindex send delayed
5467 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5468 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5469 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5470 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5473 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5476 @findex gnus-delay-article
5477 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5478 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5479 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5480 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5484 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5485 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5486 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5487 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5490 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5491 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5492 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5495 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5496 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5497 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5498 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5499 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5500 that means a time tomorrow.
5503 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5504 couple of variables:
5507 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5508 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5509 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5510 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5512 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5513 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5514 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5515 formats described above.
5517 @item gnus-delay-group
5518 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5519 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5520 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5521 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5523 @item gnus-delay-header
5524 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5525 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5526 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5527 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5530 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5531 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5532 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5533 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5534 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5536 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5537 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5538 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5539 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5540 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5541 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5544 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5545 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5547 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5548 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5549 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5550 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5551 argument is ignored.
5553 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5554 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5555 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5559 @node Marking Articles
5560 @section Marking Articles
5561 @cindex article marking
5562 @cindex article ticking
5565 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5567 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5568 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5569 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5571 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5574 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5575 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5576 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5580 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5584 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5585 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5586 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5590 @node Unread Articles
5591 @subsection Unread Articles
5593 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5598 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5599 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5601 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5602 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5603 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5604 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5605 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5606 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5607 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5610 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5611 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5613 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5614 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5615 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5616 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5620 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5621 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5623 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5628 @subsection Read Articles
5629 @cindex expirable mark
5631 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5636 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5637 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5638 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5641 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5642 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5645 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5646 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5647 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5650 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5651 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5654 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5655 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5658 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5659 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5662 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5663 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5666 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5667 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5670 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5671 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5674 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5675 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5679 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5680 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5681 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5685 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5686 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5688 One more special mark, though:
5692 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5693 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5695 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5696 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5697 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5698 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
5704 @subsection Other Marks
5705 @cindex process mark
5708 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5714 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5715 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5716 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5717 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5718 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5721 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5722 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5723 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5724 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5727 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5728 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5729 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5732 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5733 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5734 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5737 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5738 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5739 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5740 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5743 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5744 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5745 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5746 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5747 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5748 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5751 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5752 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5753 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5754 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5757 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5758 When using the Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics}, some articles might not
5759 have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you are
5760 offline (unplugged). These articles get the @samp{@@} mark in the
5761 first column. (The variable @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls
5762 which character to use.)
5765 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5766 The Gnus agent @pxref{Agent Basics} downloads some articles
5767 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5768 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5769 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5770 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5774 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5775 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5776 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5777 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5778 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5781 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5782 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5783 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5784 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5785 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5786 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5790 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5791 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5792 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5794 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5795 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5796 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5800 @subsection Setting Marks
5801 @cindex setting marks
5803 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5808 @kindex M c (Summary)
5809 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5810 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5811 @cindex mark as unread
5812 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5813 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5819 @kindex M t (Summary)
5820 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5821 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5822 @xref{Article Caching}.
5827 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5828 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5829 Mark the current article as dormant
5830 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5834 @kindex M d (Summary)
5836 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5837 Mark the current article as read
5838 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5842 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5843 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5844 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5849 @kindex M k (Summary)
5850 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5851 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5852 and then select the next unread article
5853 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5857 @kindex M K (Summary)
5858 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5859 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5860 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5861 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5864 @kindex M C (Summary)
5865 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5866 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5867 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5870 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5871 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5872 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5873 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5876 @kindex M H (Summary)
5877 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5878 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5879 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5882 @kindex M h (Summary)
5883 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5884 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5885 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5888 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5889 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5890 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5891 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5894 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5895 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5896 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5897 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5901 @kindex M e (Summary)
5903 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5904 Mark the current article as expirable
5905 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5908 @kindex M b (Summary)
5909 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5910 Set a bookmark in the current article
5911 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5914 @kindex M B (Summary)
5915 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5916 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5917 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5920 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5921 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5922 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5923 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5926 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5927 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5928 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5929 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5932 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5933 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5934 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5935 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5936 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5939 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5940 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5941 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5942 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5943 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5944 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5945 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5946 The default is @code{t}.
5949 @node Generic Marking Commands
5950 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5952 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5953 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5954 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5955 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5956 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5959 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5960 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5963 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5964 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5965 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5966 to list in this manual.
5968 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5969 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5970 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5971 article, you could say something like:
5974 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5975 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5976 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5982 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5983 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5987 @node Setting Process Marks
5988 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5989 @cindex setting process marks
5991 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
5992 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
5993 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
5994 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
5995 commands into the cache. For more information,
5996 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6003 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6004 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6005 Mark the current article with the process mark
6006 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6007 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6011 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6012 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6013 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6014 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6017 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6018 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6019 Remove the process mark from all articles
6020 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6023 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6024 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6025 Invert the list of process marked articles
6026 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6029 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6030 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6031 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6032 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6035 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6036 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6037 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6038 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6041 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6042 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6043 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6047 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6048 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6051 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6052 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6053 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6054 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6057 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6058 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6059 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6060 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6063 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6064 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6065 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6066 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6069 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6070 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6071 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6074 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6075 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6076 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6077 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6080 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6081 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6082 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6085 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6086 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6087 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6088 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6091 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6092 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6093 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6094 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6097 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6098 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6099 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6100 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6103 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6104 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6105 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6106 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6110 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
6111 set process marks based on article body contents.
6118 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6119 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6120 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6123 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6124 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6125 additional articles.
6131 @kindex / / (Summary)
6132 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6133 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6134 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6138 @kindex / a (Summary)
6139 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6140 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6141 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6145 @kindex / x (Summary)
6146 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6147 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6148 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6149 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6154 @kindex / u (Summary)
6156 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6157 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6158 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6159 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6160 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6163 @kindex / m (Summary)
6164 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6165 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6166 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6169 @kindex / t (Summary)
6170 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6171 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6172 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6173 articles younger than that number of days.
6176 @kindex / n (Summary)
6177 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6178 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6179 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6180 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6183 @kindex / w (Summary)
6184 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6185 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6186 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6190 @kindex / . (Summary)
6191 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6192 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6193 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6196 @kindex / v (Summary)
6197 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6198 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6199 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6202 @kindex / p (Summary)
6203 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6204 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6205 group parameter predicate
6206 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). See @pxref{Group
6207 Parameters} for more on this predicate.
6211 @kindex M S (Summary)
6212 @kindex / E (Summary)
6213 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6214 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6215 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6218 @kindex / D (Summary)
6219 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6220 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6221 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6224 @kindex / * (Summary)
6225 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6226 Include all cached articles in the limit
6227 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6230 @kindex / d (Summary)
6231 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6232 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6233 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6236 @kindex / M (Summary)
6237 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6238 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6241 @kindex / T (Summary)
6242 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6243 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6246 @kindex / c (Summary)
6247 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6248 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
6249 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6252 @kindex / C (Summary)
6253 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6254 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6255 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6256 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6259 @kindex / N (Summary)
6260 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6261 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6262 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6265 @kindex / o (Summary)
6266 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6267 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6268 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6276 @cindex article threading
6278 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6279 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6280 hierarchical fashion.
6282 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6283 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6284 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6285 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6286 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6287 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6288 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
6290 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6294 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6297 A tree-like article structure.
6300 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6303 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6304 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6305 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6306 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6307 called loose threads.
6309 @item thread gathering
6310 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6312 @item sparse threads
6313 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6314 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6320 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6321 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6325 @node Customizing Threading
6326 @subsection Customizing Threading
6327 @cindex customizing threading
6330 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6331 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6332 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6333 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
6338 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6341 @cindex loose threads
6344 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6345 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6346 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6347 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6348 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6349 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6351 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
6352 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
6353 There are four possible values:
6357 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6358 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6359 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6360 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6361 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6366 @cindex adopting articles
6371 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6372 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6373 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6374 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6377 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6378 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6379 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6380 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6381 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6382 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6383 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6384 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6385 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6386 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6389 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6390 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6391 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6395 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6396 display them after one another.
6399 Don't gather loose threads.
6402 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6403 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6404 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6405 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
6406 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6407 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6408 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6409 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6410 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6411 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
6412 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6414 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6415 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
6416 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6419 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6420 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6421 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6422 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6423 simplification is used.
6425 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6426 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6427 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6428 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6430 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6432 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6438 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6439 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6440 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6441 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6446 (mapconcat 'identity
6447 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6449 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6452 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6455 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6456 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6457 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6458 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6459 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6460 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6462 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6465 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6466 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6467 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6469 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6470 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6473 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6474 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6475 Remove excessive whitespace.
6477 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6478 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6479 Remove all whitespace.
6482 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6485 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6486 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6487 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6488 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6489 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6490 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6491 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6492 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6494 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6495 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6496 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6497 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6498 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6499 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6500 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6501 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6502 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6506 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6507 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6508 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6509 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6511 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6512 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6513 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6516 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6520 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6521 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6527 @node Filling In Threads
6528 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6531 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6532 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6533 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6534 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6535 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6536 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6537 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6538 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6539 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6540 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6541 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6542 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do
6545 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6546 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6547 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6549 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6550 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6551 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6552 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6553 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6554 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6555 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
6556 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6557 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
6558 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
6559 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6560 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
6561 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6562 @code{nil} by default.
6564 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6565 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6566 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6567 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6568 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6569 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6570 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6572 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6573 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6574 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6579 @node More Threading
6580 @subsubsection More Threading
6583 @item gnus-show-threads
6584 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6585 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6586 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6587 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6588 slower and more awkward.
6590 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6591 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6592 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6595 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6596 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6597 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}).
6602 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6603 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6604 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6607 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6608 unread, but you get my drift.)
6611 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6612 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6613 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6614 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6615 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6616 threads are expunged.
6618 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6619 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6620 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6623 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6624 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6625 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6626 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6627 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6628 result in a new thread.
6630 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6631 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6632 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6635 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6636 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6637 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6638 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6639 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6640 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6641 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6642 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6643 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6644 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6645 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6650 @node Low-Level Threading
6651 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6655 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6656 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6657 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
6658 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
6659 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
6660 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
6662 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6663 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6664 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6665 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6666 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6667 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6668 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6669 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6670 meaningful. Here's one example:
6673 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6675 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6676 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6678 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6680 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6687 @node Thread Commands
6688 @subsection Thread Commands
6689 @cindex thread commands
6695 @kindex T k (Summary)
6696 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6697 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6698 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6699 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6700 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6705 @kindex T l (Summary)
6706 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6707 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6708 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6709 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6712 @kindex T i (Summary)
6713 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6714 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6715 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6718 @kindex T # (Summary)
6719 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6720 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6721 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6724 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6725 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6726 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6727 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6730 @kindex T T (Summary)
6731 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6732 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6735 @kindex T s (Summary)
6736 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6737 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
6738 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6741 @kindex T h (Summary)
6742 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6743 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6746 @kindex T S (Summary)
6747 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6748 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6751 @kindex T H (Summary)
6752 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6753 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6756 @kindex T t (Summary)
6757 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6758 Re-thread the current article's thread
6759 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6760 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6763 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6764 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6765 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6766 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6770 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6771 understand the numeric prefix.
6776 @kindex T n (Summary)
6778 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6780 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6781 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6782 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6785 @kindex T p (Summary)
6787 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6789 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6790 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6791 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6794 @kindex T d (Summary)
6795 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6796 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6799 @kindex T u (Summary)
6800 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6801 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6804 @kindex T o (Summary)
6805 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6806 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6809 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6810 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6811 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6812 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6813 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6814 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6815 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6816 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6817 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6818 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6819 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6820 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6824 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6825 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6827 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6828 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6829 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6830 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6831 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6832 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6833 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6834 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6835 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-thread
6836 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6837 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6838 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6839 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6841 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6842 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6843 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6844 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6845 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6846 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
6847 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
6848 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6850 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6851 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6852 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6854 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6855 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6856 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6857 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6858 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6859 ascending article order.
6861 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6862 by number, you could do something like:
6865 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6866 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6867 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6868 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6871 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6872 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6873 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6874 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6875 which the articles arrived.
6877 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6881 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6883 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6884 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6887 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6888 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6889 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6890 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6893 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6894 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6895 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6896 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6897 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6898 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
6899 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6900 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
6901 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
6902 variable. It is very similar to the
6903 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
6904 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
6905 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6906 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
6907 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
6908 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
6909 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6911 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6915 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6916 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6917 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6922 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6923 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6924 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6925 @cindex article pre-fetch
6928 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6929 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6930 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6931 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6932 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6934 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6935 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
6937 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6938 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6939 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6940 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6941 connection is blocked.
6943 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6944 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6945 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6946 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
6948 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6949 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6950 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6951 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6954 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6957 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6958 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6959 happen automatically.
6961 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6962 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6963 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6964 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
6965 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
6966 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6967 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6969 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6970 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6971 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6972 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6973 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6974 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6975 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6976 data structure as the only parameter.
6978 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6981 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6982 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6983 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6984 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6987 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6990 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6991 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
6992 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6994 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6995 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6996 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6997 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7001 Remove articles when they are read.
7004 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7007 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7009 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7010 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7011 @c from the next group.
7014 @node Article Caching
7015 @section Article Caching
7016 @cindex article caching
7019 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
7020 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7021 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7022 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7023 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7025 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7027 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7028 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7029 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7030 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7031 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7032 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7033 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7034 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7036 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7037 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7038 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7039 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7040 as dormant, and don't worry.
7042 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7044 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7045 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7046 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7047 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7048 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7049 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7050 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7051 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7052 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7053 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7055 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7056 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7057 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7058 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7059 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7060 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
7061 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7062 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7063 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7064 not then be downloaded by this command.
7066 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7067 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7068 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7069 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7070 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7071 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7073 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7074 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7075 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7076 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7077 variables, the group is not cached.
7079 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7080 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7081 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7082 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7083 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7084 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
7085 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7086 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
7087 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7090 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7091 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7092 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7093 where, isn't that cool?
7095 @node Persistent Articles
7096 @section Persistent Articles
7097 @cindex persistent articles
7099 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7100 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7101 useful in my opinion.
7103 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7104 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7105 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7106 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7107 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7108 the expiry going on at the news server.
7110 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7111 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7112 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7118 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7119 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7122 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7123 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7124 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7125 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7129 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7131 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7132 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7133 interested in persistent articles:
7136 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7140 @node Article Backlog
7141 @section Article Backlog
7143 @cindex article backlog
7145 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7146 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7147 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
7148 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7149 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7150 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7151 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
7152 increase memory usage some.
7154 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7155 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
7156 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7157 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
7158 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7159 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7160 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7162 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
7165 @node Saving Articles
7166 @section Saving Articles
7167 @cindex saving articles
7169 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7170 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7171 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7172 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7173 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7175 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7176 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7177 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7179 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7180 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
7181 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7183 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7184 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7185 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7186 deleted before saving.
7192 @kindex O o (Summary)
7194 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7195 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7196 Save the current article using the default article saver
7197 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7200 @kindex O m (Summary)
7201 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7202 Save the current article in mail format
7203 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7206 @kindex O r (Summary)
7207 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7208 Save the current article in rmail format
7209 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7212 @kindex O f (Summary)
7213 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7214 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7215 Save the current article in plain file format
7216 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7219 @kindex O F (Summary)
7220 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7221 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7222 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7225 @kindex O b (Summary)
7226 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7227 Save the current article body in plain file format
7228 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7231 @kindex O h (Summary)
7232 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7233 Save the current article in mh folder format
7234 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7237 @kindex O v (Summary)
7238 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7239 Save the current article in a VM folder
7240 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7244 @kindex O p (Summary)
7246 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7247 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7248 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7249 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7250 complete headers in the piped output.
7253 @kindex O P (Summary)
7254 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7255 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7256 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7257 external program Muttprint (see
7258 @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/}). The program name and
7259 options to use is controlled by the variable
7260 @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}. (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7264 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7265 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7266 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7267 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7268 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7269 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7270 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7271 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7272 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7273 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7274 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7275 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7279 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7280 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7281 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7282 functions below, or you can create your own.
7286 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7287 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7288 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7289 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7290 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
7291 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7292 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7294 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7295 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7296 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7297 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7298 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7299 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7301 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7302 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7303 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7304 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7305 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7306 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7307 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7309 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7310 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7311 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7312 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7313 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7314 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7316 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7317 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7318 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7319 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7320 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7322 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7323 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7324 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7325 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7326 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7329 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7330 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7331 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7332 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7333 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7335 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7336 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7337 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7338 reader to use this setting.
7341 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7342 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7343 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7344 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7347 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7348 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7349 available functions that generate names:
7353 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7354 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7355 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7357 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7358 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7359 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7361 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7362 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7363 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7365 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7366 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7367 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7369 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7370 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7371 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7374 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7375 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7376 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7377 save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7378 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7382 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7383 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7384 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7385 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7388 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7389 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7390 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7391 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7392 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7393 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7394 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7395 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7396 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7398 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7399 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7400 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7401 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7403 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7404 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7405 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7408 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7409 lots of mail groups called things like
7410 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7411 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7412 following will do just that:
7415 (defun my-save-name (group)
7416 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7417 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7419 (setq gnus-split-methods
7420 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7425 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7426 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7427 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7428 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7429 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7430 all the files in the top level directory
7431 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7432 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7433 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7434 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7436 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7437 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7438 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7439 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7440 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7443 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7447 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
7448 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7449 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
7452 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7453 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7454 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7455 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7458 @node Decoding Articles
7459 @section Decoding Articles
7460 @cindex decoding articles
7462 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7463 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7466 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7467 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7468 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7469 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7470 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7471 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7475 @cindex article series
7476 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7477 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7478 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7479 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7480 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7482 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7483 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7484 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7486 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
7487 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7488 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7490 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7491 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7492 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7495 @node Uuencoded Articles
7496 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7498 @cindex uuencoded articles
7503 @kindex X u (Summary)
7504 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7505 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7506 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7509 @kindex X U (Summary)
7510 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7511 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7512 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7515 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7516 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7517 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7520 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7521 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7522 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7523 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7527 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7528 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7529 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7530 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7531 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7533 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7534 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7535 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7536 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7539 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7540 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7541 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7542 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7543 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7544 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7548 @node Shell Archives
7549 @subsection Shell Archives
7551 @cindex shell archives
7552 @cindex shared articles
7554 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7555 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7556 some commands to deal with these:
7561 @kindex X s (Summary)
7562 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7563 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7566 @kindex X S (Summary)
7567 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7568 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7571 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7572 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7573 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7576 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7577 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7578 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7579 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7583 @node PostScript Files
7584 @subsection PostScript Files
7590 @kindex X p (Summary)
7591 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7592 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7595 @kindex X P (Summary)
7596 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7597 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7598 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7601 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7602 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7603 View the current PostScript series
7604 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7607 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7608 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7609 View and save the current PostScript series
7610 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7615 @subsection Other Files
7619 @kindex X o (Summary)
7620 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7621 Save the current series
7622 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7625 @kindex X b (Summary)
7626 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7627 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7628 doesn't really work yet.
7632 @node Decoding Variables
7633 @subsection Decoding Variables
7635 Adjective, not verb.
7638 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7639 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7640 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7644 @node Rule Variables
7645 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7646 @cindex rule variables
7648 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7649 variables are of the form
7652 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7659 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7660 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7662 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7663 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
7666 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7667 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7670 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7671 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7672 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7673 user and default view rules.
7675 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7676 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7677 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7682 @node Other Decode Variables
7683 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7686 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7688 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7689 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7690 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7691 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7692 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7696 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7697 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7700 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7701 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7702 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7705 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7706 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7707 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7708 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7709 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7712 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7713 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7714 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7716 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7717 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7718 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7719 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7720 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
7723 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7724 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7725 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7727 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7728 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7729 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7730 looking for files to display.
7732 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7733 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7734 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7737 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7738 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7739 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7742 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7743 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7744 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7747 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7748 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7749 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7752 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7753 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7754 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7755 decoded articles as unread.
7757 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7758 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7759 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7760 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7762 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7763 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7764 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7766 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7767 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7769 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7770 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
7771 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7772 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7774 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7775 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7776 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7777 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7778 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7779 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7780 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7781 simply dropped them.
7786 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7787 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7791 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7792 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7793 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7794 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7795 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7796 for you when you post the article.
7798 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7799 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7800 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7801 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7803 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7804 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7805 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7806 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7807 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7808 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7809 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
7811 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7812 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7813 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7814 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7815 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7816 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7817 Default is @code{t}.
7823 @subsection Viewing Files
7824 @cindex viewing files
7825 @cindex pseudo-articles
7827 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
7828 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7829 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7830 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
7831 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7832 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7833 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7835 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7836 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7837 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7838 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7840 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7841 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7842 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7844 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7845 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7846 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7847 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7848 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7850 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7851 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7852 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7853 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7854 a list of parameters to that command.
7856 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7857 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7858 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7860 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7861 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7862 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7865 @node Article Treatment
7866 @section Article Treatment
7868 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7869 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7870 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7871 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7872 these articles easier.
7875 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7876 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7877 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7878 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7879 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
7880 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7881 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7882 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
7883 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7884 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7888 @node Article Highlighting
7889 @subsection Article Highlighting
7890 @cindex highlighting
7892 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7893 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7898 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7899 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7900 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7901 Do much highlighting of the current article
7902 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7903 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7906 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7907 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7908 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7909 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7910 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7911 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7912 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7913 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7914 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7915 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7916 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7917 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7920 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7921 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7922 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7924 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7927 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7929 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7930 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7931 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7933 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7934 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7935 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7937 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7938 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7939 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7940 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7941 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7942 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7944 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7945 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7946 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7948 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7949 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7950 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7952 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7953 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7954 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7955 that it's a citation.
7957 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7958 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7959 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7961 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7962 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7963 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7965 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7966 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7967 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7968 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7974 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7975 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7976 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7977 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7978 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7979 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7980 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7981 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7986 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7989 @node Article Fontisizing
7990 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7992 @cindex article emphasis
7994 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7995 @kindex W e (Summary)
7996 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7997 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7998 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7999 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8001 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8002 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8003 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8004 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8005 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8006 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8007 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8008 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8012 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8013 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8014 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8023 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8024 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8025 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8026 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8027 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8028 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8029 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8030 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8031 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8032 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8033 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8034 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8035 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8037 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8038 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8039 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8043 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8046 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8048 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8049 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8050 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8051 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8053 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8056 @node Article Hiding
8057 @subsection Article Hiding
8058 @cindex article hiding
8060 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8061 too much cruft in most articles.
8066 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8067 @findex gnus-article-hide
8068 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8069 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8070 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
8073 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8074 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8075 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8079 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8080 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8081 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8082 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8085 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8086 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8087 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8091 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8092 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8093 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8094 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8095 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8096 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8097 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8098 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8102 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8103 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8104 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8105 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8110 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8111 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8112 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8113 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8116 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8117 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8118 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8119 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8122 @cindex stripping advertisements
8123 @cindex advertisements
8124 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8125 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8126 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8127 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8128 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8129 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8130 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8131 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8132 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8133 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8136 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8137 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8138 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8142 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8143 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8144 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8145 @code{(ADDRESS . BANNER)}, where ADDRESS is a regexp matching a mail
8146 address in the From header, BANNER is one of a symbol @code{signature},
8147 an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}, a regexp and @code{nil}.
8148 If ADDRESS matches author's mail address, it will remove things like
8149 advertisements. For example, if a sender has the mail address
8150 @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a banner something like
8151 @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he sends, you can use the
8152 following element to remove them:
8155 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" . "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8161 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8162 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8163 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8164 customizing the hiding:
8168 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8169 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8170 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8171 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8172 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8173 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8174 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8179 Starting point of the hidden text.
8181 Ending point of the hidden text.
8183 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8185 Number of lines of hidden text.
8188 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8189 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8190 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8191 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8192 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8197 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8198 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8200 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8201 following two variables:
8204 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8205 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8206 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8207 50), hide the cited text.
8209 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8210 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8211 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8216 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8217 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8218 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8219 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8220 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8221 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8225 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8226 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8227 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8229 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8230 citation customization.
8232 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8236 @node Article Washing
8237 @subsection Article Washing
8239 @cindex article washing
8241 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8242 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8244 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8245 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8248 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8249 articles by default.
8254 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8255 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8259 @kindex W l (Summary)
8260 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8261 Remove page breaks from the current article
8262 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8266 @kindex W r (Summary)
8267 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8268 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8269 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8270 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8271 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8272 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8274 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8275 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8276 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8277 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8280 @kindex W m (Summary)
8281 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8282 @c @icon{gnus-summary-morse-message}
8283 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8287 @kindex W t (Summary)
8289 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8290 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8291 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8294 @kindex W v (Summary)
8295 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8296 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8297 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8300 @kindex W m (Summary)
8301 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
8302 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
8303 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
8306 @kindex W o (Summary)
8307 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8308 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8311 @kindex W d (Summary)
8312 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8313 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8315 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8317 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8318 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8319 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8320 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8323 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8324 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8325 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8326 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8329 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8330 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8331 @cindex Outlook Express
8332 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8333 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8334 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8337 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8338 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8339 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8340 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8341 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8342 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the miminum and
8343 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8344 (@code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8347 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
8348 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
8349 Repair a broken attribution line.
8350 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
8353 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
8354 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
8355 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
8356 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
8359 @kindex W w (Summary)
8360 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8361 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8363 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8367 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8368 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8369 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8372 @kindex W C (Summary)
8373 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8374 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8375 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8378 @kindex W c (Summary)
8379 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8380 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8381 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8382 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8383 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8386 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8387 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8388 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
8389 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
8390 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is usually done
8391 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8392 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
8394 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8397 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8398 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8399 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8400 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8401 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8404 @kindex W u (Summary)
8405 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8406 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8407 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8408 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8409 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8412 @kindex W h (Summary)
8413 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8414 Treat @sc{html} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8415 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8416 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @sc{html}.
8418 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8420 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8421 The default is to use the function specified by
8422 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{(emacs-mime)Display
8423 Customization}) to convert the @sc{html}, but this is controlled by
8424 the @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions
8425 you can use include:
8432 Use emacs-w3m (see @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/} for more
8436 Use Links (see @uref{http://artax.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~mikulas/links/}).
8439 Use Lynx (see @uref{http://lynx.browser.org/}).
8442 Use html2text -- a simple @sc{html} converter included with Gnus.
8447 @kindex W b (Summary)
8448 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8449 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8450 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8453 @kindex W B (Summary)
8454 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8455 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8456 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8459 @kindex W p (Summary)
8460 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8461 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
8462 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
8463 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
8464 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8465 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
8466 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8469 @kindex W s (Summary)
8470 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8471 Verify a signed (PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}) message
8472 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8475 @kindex W a (Summary)
8476 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8477 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8478 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8481 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8482 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8483 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8484 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8487 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8488 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8489 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8490 lines with a single empty line.
8491 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8494 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8495 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8496 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8497 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8500 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8501 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8502 Do all the three commands above
8503 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8506 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8507 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8508 Remove all blank lines
8509 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8512 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8513 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8514 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8515 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8518 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8519 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8520 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8521 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8525 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8528 @node Article Header
8529 @subsection Article Header
8531 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8536 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8537 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8538 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8541 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8542 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8543 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8544 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8547 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8548 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8549 Fold all the message headers
8550 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8554 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8555 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8556 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8561 @node Article Buttons
8562 @subsection Article Buttons
8565 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8566 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8567 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8568 button on these references.
8570 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8571 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8572 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links and man pages.
8573 This is controlled by two variables, one that handles article bodies and
8574 one that handles article heads:
8578 @item gnus-button-alist
8579 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8580 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8583 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8589 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
8590 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
8591 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
8592 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
8593 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}.
8596 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8597 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8598 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8601 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8602 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8603 avoid false matches.
8606 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8609 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8610 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8614 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8617 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8620 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8621 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8622 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8623 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8624 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8627 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8630 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8632 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8633 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8634 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8635 default values of the variables above.
8637 @item gnus-article-button-face
8638 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8639 Face used on buttons.
8641 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8642 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8643 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8647 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8651 @subsection Article Date
8653 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8654 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8655 when the article was sent.
8660 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8661 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8662 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8663 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8666 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8667 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8669 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8670 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8673 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8674 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8675 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8678 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8679 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8680 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8681 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8684 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8685 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8686 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8687 @findex format-time-string
8688 Display the date using a user-defined format
8689 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8690 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8691 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8692 for a list of possible format specs.
8695 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8696 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8697 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8698 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8699 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8700 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8703 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8706 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8707 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8710 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8711 into wonderful absurdities.
8713 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8716 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8719 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8720 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8724 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8725 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8726 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8727 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8728 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8729 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8730 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8734 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8735 preferred format automatically.
8738 @node Article Display
8739 @subsection Article Display
8744 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
8745 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
8747 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
8748 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
8750 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
8751 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
8753 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
8754 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
8756 All these functions are toggles--if the elements already exist,
8761 @kindex W D x (Summary)
8762 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
8763 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
8764 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
8767 @kindex W D d (Summary)
8768 @findex gnus-article-display-face
8769 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
8770 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
8773 @kindex W D s (Summary)
8774 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
8775 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
8778 @kindex W D f (Summary)
8779 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
8780 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
8783 @kindex W D m (Summary)
8784 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
8785 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
8786 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
8789 @kindex W D n (Summary)
8790 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
8791 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
8792 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
8795 @kindex W D D (Summary)
8796 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
8797 Remove all images from the article buffer
8798 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
8804 @node Article Signature
8805 @subsection Article Signature
8807 @cindex article signature
8809 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8810 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
8811 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
8812 that says what is to be considered a signature is
8813 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
8814 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
8815 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
8816 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
8817 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
8820 (setq gnus-signature-separator
8821 '("^-- $" ; The standard
8822 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
8823 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
8824 ; line of dashes. Shame!
8825 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
8826 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
8827 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
8830 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
8833 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
8834 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
8835 signature when displaying articles.
8839 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
8842 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
8845 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
8846 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
8848 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
8849 in question is not a signature.
8852 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
8853 listed above. Here's an example:
8856 (setq gnus-signature-limit
8857 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
8860 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
8861 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
8862 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
8863 signature after all.
8866 @node Article Miscellania
8867 @subsection Article Miscellania
8871 @kindex A t (Summary)
8872 @findex gnus-article-babel
8873 Translate the article from one language to another
8874 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
8880 @section MIME Commands
8881 @cindex MIME decoding
8883 @cindex viewing attachments
8885 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
8886 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
8892 @kindex K v (Summary)
8893 View the @sc{mime} part.
8896 @kindex K o (Summary)
8897 Save the @sc{mime} part.
8900 @kindex K c (Summary)
8901 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
8904 @kindex K e (Summary)
8905 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
8908 @kindex K i (Summary)
8909 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
8912 @kindex K | (Summary)
8913 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
8916 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
8921 @kindex K b (Summary)
8922 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
8923 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
8927 @kindex K m (Summary)
8928 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
8929 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
8930 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
8931 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
8932 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
8935 @kindex X m (Summary)
8936 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
8937 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
8938 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
8939 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8942 @kindex M-t (Summary)
8943 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
8944 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
8945 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
8948 @kindex W M w (Summary)
8949 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
8950 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
8951 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
8954 @kindex W M c (Summary)
8955 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
8956 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
8957 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
8959 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
8960 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
8961 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
8962 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
8963 include @sc{mime} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
8964 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8967 @kindex W M v (Summary)
8968 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
8969 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
8970 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
8977 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
8978 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
8979 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8980 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
8983 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
8986 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
8990 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
8991 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
8992 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't required the @samp{MIME-Version} header
8993 before interpreting the message as a @sc{mime} message. This helps
8994 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
8995 default is @code{nil}.
8997 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
8998 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
8999 There are other, non-@sc{mime} encoding methods used. The most common
9000 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9001 This variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9002 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9003 Gnus @sc{mime} machinery. The default is @code{t}.
9005 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9006 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9007 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9008 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9009 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9010 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9011 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9012 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is nil.
9014 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9015 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9016 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
9017 this list will have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9018 displayed. This variable overrides
9019 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9020 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9023 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9024 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9025 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9027 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9028 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9029 If this is non-nil, then all @sc{mime} parts get buttons. The default
9030 value is @code{nil}.
9032 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9033 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9034 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
9035 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9036 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9037 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9038 save all jpegs into some directory).
9040 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9043 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9044 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9046 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9047 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9048 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9049 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9050 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9053 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9054 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9055 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9057 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9058 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9059 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
9060 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9062 Ready-made functions include@*
9063 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9064 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9065 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9066 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9067 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9068 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9069 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9070 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9071 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9072 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9073 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9074 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9076 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9077 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9079 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9080 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9081 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9084 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9085 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9086 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9087 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9091 to your @file{.gnus.el} file.
9100 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
9101 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9102 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
9103 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9104 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9105 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9106 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
9108 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9109 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9110 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9111 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9113 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
9114 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9115 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9116 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9117 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9118 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9119 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9120 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9122 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9123 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9124 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
9125 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9126 quoted-printable header encoding.
9128 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9129 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9130 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9134 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9137 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9138 means encode all charsets),
9140 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9141 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9142 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9149 @cindex coding system aliases
9150 @cindex preferred charset
9152 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9154 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9155 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9158 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9159 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9162 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9163 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
9165 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9168 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9171 This will almost do the right thing.
9173 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9177 (codepage-setup 1251)
9178 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9182 @node Article Commands
9183 @section Article Commands
9190 @kindex A P (Summary)
9191 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9192 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9193 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9194 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9195 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9196 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9201 @node Summary Sorting
9202 @section Summary Sorting
9203 @cindex summary sorting
9205 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9206 can't really see why you'd want that.
9211 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9212 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9213 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9216 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9217 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9218 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9221 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9222 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9223 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9226 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9227 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9228 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9231 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9232 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9233 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9236 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9237 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9238 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9241 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9242 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9243 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9246 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9247 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9248 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9251 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9252 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9253 Sort using the default sorting method
9254 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9257 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9258 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9259 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9260 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9261 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9265 @node Finding the Parent
9266 @section Finding the Parent
9267 @cindex parent articles
9268 @cindex referring articles
9273 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9274 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9275 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9276 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
9277 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9278 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9279 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9280 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9281 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9283 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9284 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9285 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
9286 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9287 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9291 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9292 @kindex A R (Summary)
9293 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9294 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9297 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9298 @kindex A T (Summary)
9299 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9300 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9301 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9302 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9303 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9304 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9305 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9307 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9308 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9309 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9310 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9311 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9312 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9315 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9316 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9318 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9319 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
9320 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9321 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9322 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9323 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9324 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9327 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9328 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9329 by giving this command a prefix.
9331 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9332 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9333 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9334 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
9335 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
9336 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9339 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9340 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9341 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9344 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9345 then ask Google if that fails:
9348 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9350 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9353 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9354 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9355 @code{nnbabyl}, and @code{nnmaildir} are able to locate articles from
9356 any groups, while @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9357 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current group.
9358 (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not
9359 support this at all.
9362 @node Alternative Approaches
9363 @section Alternative Approaches
9365 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9366 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9369 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9370 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9375 @subsection Pick and Read
9376 @cindex pick and read
9378 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9379 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9380 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9381 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9383 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9384 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9385 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9386 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9387 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9388 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9390 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9395 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9396 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9397 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9398 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9399 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9400 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9401 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9402 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9405 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9406 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9407 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9408 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9412 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9413 Unpick the thread or article
9414 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9415 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9416 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9417 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9418 the thread or article at that line.
9422 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9423 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9424 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9425 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9426 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9427 will still be visible when you are reading.
9431 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9432 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9433 which is mapped to the same function
9434 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9436 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9439 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9442 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9443 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9445 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9446 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9447 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9449 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9450 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9451 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9452 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9453 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9454 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9455 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9459 @subsection Binary Groups
9460 @cindex binary groups
9462 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9463 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9464 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9465 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9466 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9467 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9468 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9471 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9472 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9473 command, when you have turned on this mode
9474 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9476 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9477 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9481 @section Tree Display
9484 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9485 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
9486 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9487 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9490 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9493 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9494 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9495 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9497 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9498 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9499 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9500 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9501 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9503 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9504 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9505 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9506 default is @code{modeline}.
9508 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9509 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9510 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9511 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9512 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9513 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9514 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9520 The name of the poster.
9522 The @code{From} header.
9524 The number of the article.
9526 The opening bracket.
9528 The closing bracket.
9533 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9535 Variables related to the display are:
9538 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9539 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9540 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9541 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9542 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
9543 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9545 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9546 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9547 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9548 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9552 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9553 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9554 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
9555 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
9556 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9557 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9558 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9559 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9560 other windows displayed next to it.
9562 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9566 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9567 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9570 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9571 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9572 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9573 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9574 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9575 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9576 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9580 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9583 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9593 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9597 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9598 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9600 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9602 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9607 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9608 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9609 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
9612 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9613 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9614 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9615 (gnus-add-configuration
9619 (summary 0.75 point)
9624 @xref{Window Layout}.
9627 @node Mail Group Commands
9628 @section Mail Group Commands
9629 @cindex mail group commands
9631 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9632 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9634 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9635 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9640 @kindex B e (Summary)
9641 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9642 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9643 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9644 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9645 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9648 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9649 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9650 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9651 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9652 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9653 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9656 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9657 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9658 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9659 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9660 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9661 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9664 @kindex B m (Summary)
9666 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9667 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9668 Move the article from one mail group to another
9669 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9670 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9673 @kindex B c (Summary)
9675 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9676 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9677 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9678 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9679 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9682 @kindex B B (Summary)
9683 @cindex crosspost mail
9684 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9685 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9686 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9687 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9688 be properly updated.
9691 @kindex B i (Summary)
9692 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9693 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9694 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9695 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9698 @kindex B I (Summary)
9699 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
9700 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
9701 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
9702 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9705 @kindex B r (Summary)
9706 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9707 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9708 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9709 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9710 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9711 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9712 (which is the default).
9716 @kindex B w (Summary)
9718 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9719 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9720 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
9721 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9722 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9723 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9724 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9727 @kindex B q (Summary)
9728 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9729 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9730 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9731 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
9734 @kindex B t (Summary)
9735 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
9736 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
9737 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
9740 @kindex B p (Summary)
9741 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
9742 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
9743 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
9744 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
9745 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
9746 article from your news server (or rather, from
9747 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
9748 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
9749 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
9750 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
9751 just not have arrived yet.
9754 @kindex K E (Summary)
9755 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
9756 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
9757 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
9758 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
9759 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
9763 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
9764 @cindex moving articles
9765 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
9766 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
9767 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
9768 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
9769 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
9770 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
9771 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
9774 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
9775 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
9776 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
9777 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
9781 @node Various Summary Stuff
9782 @section Various Summary Stuff
9785 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
9786 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
9787 * Summary Generation Commands::
9788 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
9792 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
9793 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
9794 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
9795 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
9796 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
9797 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
9799 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
9800 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
9801 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
9803 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
9804 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
9805 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
9806 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
9807 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
9808 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
9811 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9812 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9813 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
9814 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
9815 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
9817 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9818 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9819 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
9822 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9823 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9824 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
9825 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
9826 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
9827 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
9828 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
9829 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
9830 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
9831 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
9833 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9834 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9835 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
9836 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
9837 list of articles to be selected.
9839 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
9840 the list in one particular group:
9843 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
9844 (if (string= group "some.group")
9845 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
9849 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
9850 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
9851 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
9852 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
9853 nil), that should be made global while the summary buffer is active.
9854 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
9855 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
9856 buffers. For example:
9859 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
9860 '(message-use-followup-to
9861 (gnus-visible-headers .
9862 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
9868 @node Summary Group Information
9869 @subsection Summary Group Information
9874 @kindex H f (Summary)
9875 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
9876 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
9877 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
9878 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
9879 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
9880 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
9881 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
9882 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
9883 be used for fetching the file.
9886 @kindex H d (Summary)
9887 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
9888 Give a brief description of the current group
9889 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
9890 rereading the description from the server.
9893 @kindex H h (Summary)
9894 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
9895 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
9896 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
9899 @kindex H i (Summary)
9900 @findex gnus-info-find-node
9901 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
9905 @node Searching for Articles
9906 @subsection Searching for Articles
9911 @kindex M-s (Summary)
9912 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
9913 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
9914 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
9917 @kindex M-r (Summary)
9918 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
9919 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
9920 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
9924 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
9925 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
9926 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
9927 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
9928 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
9929 search backward instead.
9931 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
9932 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
9935 @kindex M-& (Summary)
9936 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
9937 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
9938 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
9941 @node Summary Generation Commands
9942 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
9947 @kindex Y g (Summary)
9948 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
9949 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
9952 @kindex Y c (Summary)
9953 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
9954 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
9955 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
9958 @kindex Y d (Summary)
9959 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
9960 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
9961 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
9966 @node Really Various Summary Commands
9967 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
9973 @kindex C-d (Summary)
9974 @kindex A D (Summary)
9975 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
9976 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
9977 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
9978 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
9979 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
9980 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
9981 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
9982 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
9986 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
9987 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
9988 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
9989 several documents into one biiig group
9990 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
9991 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
9992 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
9993 command understands the process/prefix convention
9994 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9997 @kindex C-t (Summary)
9998 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
9999 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10000 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10001 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10002 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10005 @kindex = (Summary)
10006 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10007 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10008 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10011 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10012 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10013 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10014 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10017 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10018 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10019 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10020 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
10025 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
10026 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
10027 @cindex summary exit
10028 @cindex exiting groups
10030 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
10031 group and return you to the group buffer.
10037 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
10038 @kindex q (Summary)
10039 @findex gnus-summary-exit
10040 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
10041 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
10042 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
10043 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
10044 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
10045 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
10046 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
10047 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
10048 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
10049 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
10053 @kindex Z E (Summary)
10054 @kindex Q (Summary)
10055 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
10056 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
10057 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
10061 @kindex Z c (Summary)
10062 @kindex c (Summary)
10063 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
10064 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
10065 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
10066 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
10069 @kindex Z C (Summary)
10070 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
10071 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
10072 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
10075 @kindex Z n (Summary)
10076 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
10077 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
10078 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
10081 @kindex Z R (Summary)
10082 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
10083 Exit this group, and then enter it again
10084 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
10085 all articles, both read and unread.
10089 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10090 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10091 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10092 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10093 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10094 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10095 articles, both read and unread.
10098 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10099 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10100 Exit the group and go to the next group
10101 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10104 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10105 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10106 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10107 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10110 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10111 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10112 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10113 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10114 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10115 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10118 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10119 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10120 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10121 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10123 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10124 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10125 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10126 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10127 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10128 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10129 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10130 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10131 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10132 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10133 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10134 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10136 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10138 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10139 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10140 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10141 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10142 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10143 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10144 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10145 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10146 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10149 @node Crosspost Handling
10150 @section Crosspost Handling
10154 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10155 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10156 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10157 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10158 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10159 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10162 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10163 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10164 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10165 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10166 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10168 @cindex cross-posting
10171 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10172 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
10173 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10174 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
10175 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10176 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10177 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10178 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10179 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10180 the cross reference mechanism.
10182 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10183 @cindex overview.fmt
10184 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10185 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10186 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10187 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10188 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10189 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10192 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10193 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10194 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10199 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10202 @node Duplicate Suppression
10203 @section Duplicate Suppression
10205 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10206 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10207 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10208 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10213 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10214 is evil and not very common.
10217 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10218 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10221 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10222 different @sc{nntp} servers.
10225 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10228 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10229 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10231 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10232 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10233 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10234 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10235 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10236 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10237 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10240 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10241 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10242 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10243 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10244 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10245 saw the article in.
10248 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10249 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10250 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10252 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10253 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10254 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10255 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10256 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
10257 session are suppressed.
10259 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10260 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10261 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10262 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10264 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10265 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10266 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10267 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10270 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
10271 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10272 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10273 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10274 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
10275 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10276 to you to figure out, I think.
10281 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10282 The formats that are supported are PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} and @sc{s/mime},
10283 however you need some external programs to get things to work:
10287 To handle PGP and PGP/MIME messages, you have to install an OpenPGP
10288 implementation such as GnuPG. The lisp interface to GnuPG included
10289 with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG Manual}), but
10290 Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
10293 To handle @sc{s/mime} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10294 or newer is recommended.
10298 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10299 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10302 @item mm-verify-option
10303 @vindex mm-verify-option
10304 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10305 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10306 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10308 @item mm-decrypt-option
10309 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10310 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10311 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10312 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10315 @vindex mml1991-use
10316 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for PGP
10317 messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but @code{mailcrypt} and
10318 @code{gpg} are also supported although deprecated.
10321 @vindex mml2015-use
10322 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10323 PGP/MIME messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but @code{mailcrypt}
10324 and @code{gpg} are also supported although deprecated.
10329 @section Mailing List
10331 @kindex A M (summary)
10332 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10333 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10334 either add a `to-list' group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10335 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10336 summary buffer, or say:
10339 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-mailing-list-mode)
10342 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10347 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10348 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10349 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10352 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10353 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10354 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10357 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10358 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10359 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10363 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10364 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10365 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10368 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10369 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10370 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10373 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10374 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10375 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10379 @node Article Buffer
10380 @chapter Article Buffer
10381 @cindex article buffer
10383 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10384 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10385 tell gnus otherwise.
10388 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10389 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
10390 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10391 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10392 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10396 @node Hiding Headers
10397 @section Hiding Headers
10398 @cindex hiding headers
10399 @cindex deleting headers
10401 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10402 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10404 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10405 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10406 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10407 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10408 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10409 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10410 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
10411 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10412 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10414 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10418 @item gnus-visible-headers
10419 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10420 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10421 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10422 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10424 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10425 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10428 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10431 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10434 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10435 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10436 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10437 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10438 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10439 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10441 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
10442 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
10445 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10448 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10451 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10452 variable will have no effect.
10456 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10457 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10458 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10459 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10460 the headers are to be displayed.
10462 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10463 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10466 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10469 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10470 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10472 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10473 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10474 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10475 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10476 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10477 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
10478 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10481 These conditions are:
10484 Remove all empty headers.
10486 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10487 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10489 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
10490 @code{From} header.
10492 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10495 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10496 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
10498 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10501 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10503 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10506 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10509 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10510 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10513 This is also the default value for this variable.
10517 @section Using MIME
10520 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10521 while people stand around yawning.
10523 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10524 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10526 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10527 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10528 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10530 @vindex gnus-show-mime
10531 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
10532 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
10533 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
10534 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
10535 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
10536 calls the @sc{semi} MIME-View program to actually do the work. For more
10537 information on @sc{semi} MIME-View, see its manual page (however it is
10538 not existed yet, sorry).
10540 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
10541 @sc{mime} all the time. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime} set, then
10542 you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article buffer.
10543 These can't be avoided.
10545 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
10546 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
10547 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
10548 @sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
10549 sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find
10550 the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to
10551 look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
10552 can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
10553 room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
10556 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10558 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
10559 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
10560 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
10561 buffer when there are nobody else.
10563 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10566 @node Customizing Articles
10567 @section Customizing Articles
10568 @cindex article customization
10570 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10571 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
10572 called automatically when you select the articles.
10574 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10575 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10576 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10577 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10579 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10580 for sensible values.
10584 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10587 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10590 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10593 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10596 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10600 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10601 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10602 regexps in the list.
10605 A list where the first element is not a string:
10607 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10608 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10609 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10613 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10617 @code{mime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}' is
10622 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10623 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
10624 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10625 considered to contain just a single part.
10627 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10628 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10629 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10630 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
10631 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
10632 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
10633 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
10635 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
10636 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
10637 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
10638 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
10641 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
10642 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
10644 @xref{Article Buttons}.
10646 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
10647 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10648 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10649 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10650 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10651 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10652 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10653 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10654 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
10655 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
10656 @item gnus-treat-decode-article-as-default-mime-charset (t, integer)
10658 @xref{Article Washing}.
10660 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
10661 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
10662 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10663 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10664 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10665 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10666 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10668 @xref{Article Date}.
10670 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
10671 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
10672 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
10676 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10678 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
10680 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
10681 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
10682 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
10686 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
10690 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
10691 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
10692 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
10693 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
10694 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
10695 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
10696 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
10697 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
10699 @xref{Article Hiding}.
10701 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
10702 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
10703 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
10705 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
10707 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
10708 @item gnus-treat-translate
10709 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
10711 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
10712 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
10713 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
10714 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
10716 @xref{Article Header}.
10721 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
10722 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
10723 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
10724 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
10725 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
10729 @node Article Keymap
10730 @section Article Keymap
10732 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
10733 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
10734 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
10735 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
10738 A few additional keystrokes are available:
10743 @kindex SPACE (Article)
10744 @findex gnus-article-next-page
10745 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
10748 @kindex DEL (Article)
10749 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
10750 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
10753 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
10754 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
10755 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
10756 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
10757 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
10760 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
10761 @findex gnus-article-mail
10762 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
10763 given a prefix, include the mail.
10766 @kindex s (Article)
10767 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
10768 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
10769 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
10772 @kindex ? (Article)
10773 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
10774 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
10775 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
10778 @kindex TAB (Article)
10779 @findex gnus-article-next-button
10780 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
10781 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
10784 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
10785 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
10786 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
10789 @kindex R (Article)
10790 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
10791 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
10792 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
10793 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10797 @kindex F (Article)
10798 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
10799 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
10800 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
10801 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10809 @section Misc Article
10813 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
10814 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
10815 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
10816 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
10819 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
10820 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
10822 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
10823 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
10825 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
10826 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
10827 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
10828 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
10829 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
10830 the contents of the article buffer.
10832 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
10833 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
10834 Hook called in article mode buffers.
10836 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10837 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10838 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
10839 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
10841 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
10842 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
10843 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
10844 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
10845 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
10851 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
10852 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
10853 performed. The characters and their meaning:
10858 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
10861 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
10864 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
10865 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
10866 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
10869 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
10872 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
10875 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
10880 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
10884 @vindex gnus-break-pages
10886 @item gnus-break-pages
10887 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
10888 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
10889 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
10890 paging will not be done.
10892 @item gnus-page-delimiter
10893 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
10894 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
10899 @node Composing Messages
10900 @chapter Composing Messages
10901 @cindex composing messages
10904 @cindex sending mail
10909 @cindex using s/mime
10910 @cindex using smime
10912 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
10913 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
10914 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
10915 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
10916 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
10917 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
10920 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
10921 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
10922 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
10923 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
10924 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
10925 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
10926 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
10927 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
10930 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
10931 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
10937 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
10940 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
10941 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
10942 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
10943 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
10944 @code{nil} include all headers.
10946 @item gnus-add-to-list
10947 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
10948 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
10949 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
10951 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
10952 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
10953 This can also be a function receiving the group name as the only
10954 parameter which should return non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is
10955 needed, or a regular expression matching group names, where
10956 confirmation is should be asked for.
10958 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
10959 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
10961 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
10962 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
10963 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
10964 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
10965 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
10970 @node Posting Server
10971 @section Posting Server
10973 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
10974 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
10976 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
10978 It can be quite complicated.
10980 @vindex gnus-post-method
10981 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
10982 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
10983 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
10984 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
10985 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
10986 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
10987 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
10988 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
10989 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
10992 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
10995 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
10996 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
10997 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
10998 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
11000 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
11001 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
11003 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
11004 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
11007 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
11008 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
11010 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
11011 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
11012 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
11013 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
11014 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @sc{smtp}
11015 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
11016 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
11017 package correctly. An example:
11020 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
11021 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11022 ;; The following variable needs to be set because of the FLIM version of
11023 ;; smtpmail.el. Which smtpmail.el is used depends on the `load-path'.
11024 (setq smtp-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11027 To the thing similar to this, there is @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}.
11028 It is useful if your ISP requires the POP-before-SMTP authentication.
11029 See the documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
11031 Other possible choices for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
11032 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
11033 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
11035 @node Mail and Post
11036 @section Mail and Post
11038 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11042 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11043 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11044 @cindex mailing lists
11046 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11047 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
11048 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11049 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11050 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11051 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11052 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11053 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11054 still a pain, though.
11058 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11059 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11060 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11063 @findex ispell-message
11065 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11068 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11069 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11072 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11076 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11077 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11079 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11082 Modify to suit your needs.
11085 @node Archived Messages
11086 @section Archived Messages
11087 @cindex archived messages
11088 @cindex sent messages
11090 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11091 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11092 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11093 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11096 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11097 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11100 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11101 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
11102 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11105 (nnfolder "archive"
11106 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11107 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11108 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11109 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11112 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11113 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11114 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11115 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11118 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11119 '(nnfolder "archive"
11120 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11121 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11122 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11125 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11127 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11128 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11129 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11131 This variable can be used to do the following:
11136 Messages will be saved in that group.
11138 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11139 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11140 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11141 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11142 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11143 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11144 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11145 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11149 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11151 an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11152 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11155 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11160 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11162 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11165 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11167 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11170 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11172 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11173 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11174 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11175 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11178 More complex stuff:
11180 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11181 '((if (message-news-p)
11186 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11187 messages in one file per month:
11190 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11191 '((if (message-news-p)
11193 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11196 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11197 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11199 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11200 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11201 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11202 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11203 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11204 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11205 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11206 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11207 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11208 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11210 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11211 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11212 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11213 this will disable archiving.
11216 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11217 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11218 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11219 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11220 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11223 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11224 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11225 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11228 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11229 but the latter is the preferred method.
11231 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11232 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11233 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11235 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11236 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11237 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11238 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11239 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11240 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11241 changed in the future.
11246 @node Posting Styles
11247 @section Posting Styles
11248 @cindex posting styles
11251 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11253 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11254 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11255 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11258 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11259 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11260 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11261 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11262 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11267 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11268 (organization "What me?"))
11270 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11271 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11272 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11275 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11276 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11277 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11278 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11279 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11280 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11281 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11282 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11284 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11285 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11286 If it is the form @code{(header MATCH REGEXP)}, then Gnus will look in
11287 the original article for a header whose name is MATCH and compare that
11288 REGEXP. MATCH and REGEXP are strings. (There original article is the
11289 one you are replying or following up to. If you are not composing a
11290 reply or a followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
11291 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with no
11292 arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
11293 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
11294 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
11297 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11298 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
11299 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
11300 @code{x-face-file}, @code{address} (overriding
11301 @code{user-mail-address}), @code{name} (overriding
11302 @code{(user-full-name)}) or @code{body}. The attribute name can also
11303 be a string or a symbol. In that case, this will be used as a header
11304 name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the article; if
11305 the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed. If the
11306 attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the result
11309 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11310 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11311 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11312 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11313 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11314 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11315 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11316 references chars lines xref extra.
11318 @vindex message-reply-headers
11320 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11321 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11322 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11324 @findex message-mail-p
11325 @findex message-news-p
11327 So here's a new example:
11330 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11332 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11334 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11335 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11337 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11338 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; A form
11339 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11340 (message-news-p ;; A function symbol
11341 (signature my-news-signature))
11342 (window-system ;; A value symbol
11343 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11344 ;; If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.
11345 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11346 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11347 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; A user defined function
11348 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11349 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11350 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11351 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11353 (From (save-excursion
11354 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11355 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11357 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11360 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11361 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11362 if you fill many roles.
11364 Setting the @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} variable will make
11365 posting-styles allow to have distinctive names. You can specify an
11366 arbitrary posting-style when article posting with @kbd{S P} in the
11367 summary buffer. @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} is an alist which maps
11368 the names to styles. Once a posting-style is added to the alist, we can
11369 import it from @code{gnus-posting-styles}. If an attribute whose name
11370 is @code{import} is found, Gnus will look for the attribute value in
11371 @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} and expand it in place.
11376 (setq gnus-named-posting-styles
11378 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11380 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11381 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11384 (organization "The Church of Emacs"))))
11387 The posting-style named "Emacs" will inherit all the attributes from
11388 "Default" except @code{organization}.
11395 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11396 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11397 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11398 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11399 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11401 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11402 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11403 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11404 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11405 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11409 @vindex nndraft-directory
11410 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11411 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11412 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11413 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11414 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11415 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11417 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11418 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11421 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11422 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11423 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11424 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11425 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11426 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11427 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11428 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11429 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11430 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11431 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11432 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11433 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11434 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11436 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11437 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11438 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11440 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11441 @kindex D e (Draft)
11442 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11443 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11444 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11446 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11449 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11450 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11451 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11452 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11453 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11454 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11455 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11458 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11459 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11460 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11463 @node Rejected Articles
11464 @section Rejected Articles
11465 @cindex rejected articles
11467 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11468 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11469 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11470 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11472 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
11473 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11474 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11475 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
11476 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11478 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11479 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11480 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11482 @node Signing and encrypting
11483 @section Signing and encrypting
11485 @cindex using s/mime
11486 @cindex using smime
11488 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla PGP
11489 format or @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}. For decoding such messages,
11490 see the @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} options
11491 (@pxref{Security}).
11493 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11494 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11495 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11496 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11497 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11498 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11499 automatically encrypted messages.
11501 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @sc{mime} part is
11502 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
11503 C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11508 @kindex C-c C-m s s
11509 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
11511 Digitally sign current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11514 @kindex C-c C-m s o
11515 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11517 Digitally sign current message using PGP.
11520 @kindex C-c C-m s p
11521 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11523 Digitally sign current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11526 @kindex C-c C-m c s
11527 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
11529 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11532 @kindex C-c C-m c o
11533 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
11535 Digitally encrypt current message using PGP.
11538 @kindex C-c C-m c p
11539 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
11541 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11544 @kindex C-c C-m C-n
11545 @findex mml-unsecure-message
11546 Remove security related MML tags from message.
11550 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
11552 @node Select Methods
11553 @chapter Select Methods
11554 @cindex foreign groups
11555 @cindex select methods
11557 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
11558 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
11559 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
11560 personal mail group.
11562 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
11563 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
11564 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
11565 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
11566 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
11567 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
11569 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
11570 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
11572 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
11575 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
11576 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
11577 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
11578 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
11579 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
11581 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
11584 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
11585 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
11586 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
11587 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
11588 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
11589 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
11590 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
11591 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
11595 @node Server Buffer
11596 @section Server Buffer
11598 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
11599 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
11600 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
11601 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
11602 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
11603 back end represents a virtual server.
11605 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
11606 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
11607 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
11608 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
11610 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
11611 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
11612 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
11613 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
11614 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
11615 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
11616 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
11618 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
11619 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
11622 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
11623 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
11624 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
11625 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
11626 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
11627 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
11628 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
11631 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
11632 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
11635 @node Server Buffer Format
11636 @subsection Server Buffer Format
11637 @cindex server buffer format
11639 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
11640 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
11641 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
11642 variable, with some simple extensions:
11647 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
11650 The name of this server.
11653 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
11656 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
11659 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
11660 The mode line can also be customized by using the
11661 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
11662 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
11672 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
11675 @node Server Commands
11676 @subsection Server Commands
11677 @cindex server commands
11683 @findex gnus-server-add-server
11684 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
11688 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
11689 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
11692 @kindex SPACE (Server)
11693 @findex gnus-server-read-server
11694 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
11698 @findex gnus-server-exit
11699 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
11703 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
11704 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
11708 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
11709 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
11713 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
11714 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
11718 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
11719 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
11723 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
11724 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
11725 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
11730 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
11731 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
11732 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
11733 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
11738 @node Example Methods
11739 @subsection Example Methods
11741 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
11744 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
11747 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
11753 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
11754 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
11757 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
11758 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
11760 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
11761 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
11765 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
11768 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
11769 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
11771 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
11772 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
11773 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
11777 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
11780 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
11783 Here's the method for a public spool:
11787 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
11788 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
11794 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
11795 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
11796 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
11797 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
11798 should probably look something like this:
11802 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
11803 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
11804 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
11805 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11808 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
11809 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
11810 configuration to the example above:
11813 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
11816 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
11818 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
11819 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
11820 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
11824 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11825 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
11826 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
11827 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11830 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
11831 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
11832 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
11833 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
11836 @node Creating a Virtual Server
11837 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
11839 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
11840 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
11842 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
11843 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
11844 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
11846 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
11848 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
11849 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
11850 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
11851 will contain the following:
11861 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
11862 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
11863 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
11866 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
11867 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
11868 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
11871 @node Server Variables
11872 @subsection Server Variables
11874 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
11875 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
11876 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
11877 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
11878 won't change the "derived" variables.
11880 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
11881 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
11882 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
11883 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
11884 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
11885 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
11886 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
11887 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
11888 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
11892 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
11893 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
11894 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
11898 @node Servers and Methods
11899 @subsection Servers and Methods
11901 Wherever you would normally use a select method
11902 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
11903 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
11904 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
11908 @node Unavailable Servers
11909 @subsection Unavailable Servers
11911 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
11912 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
11913 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
11914 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
11915 actually the case or not.
11917 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
11918 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
11919 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
11920 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
11921 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
11922 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
11923 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
11924 it will regard that server as ``down''.
11926 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
11927 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
11929 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
11930 with the following commands:
11936 @findex gnus-server-open-server
11937 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
11938 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
11942 @findex gnus-server-close-server
11943 Close the connection (if any) to the server
11944 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
11948 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
11949 Mark the current server as unreachable
11950 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
11953 @kindex M-o (Server)
11954 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
11955 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
11956 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
11959 @kindex M-c (Server)
11960 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
11961 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
11962 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
11966 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
11967 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
11968 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
11972 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
11973 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
11979 @section Getting News
11980 @cindex reading news
11981 @cindex news back ends
11983 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
11984 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
11985 or it can read from a local spool.
11988 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
11989 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
11997 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
11998 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
11999 server as the, uhm, address.
12001 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
12002 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
12003 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
12004 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12006 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
12007 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
12008 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
12010 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
12015 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
12016 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
12017 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
12019 @cindex authentification
12020 @cindex nntp authentification
12021 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12022 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
12023 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
12024 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
12025 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
12026 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
12027 present in this hook.
12029 @item nntp-authinfo-function
12030 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
12031 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12032 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
12033 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
12034 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
12035 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
12036 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
12037 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
12038 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
12039 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
12040 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
12044 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
12047 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
12049 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
12050 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
12051 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
12052 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
12053 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
12054 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
12055 @samp{force} is explained below.
12059 Here's an example file:
12062 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12063 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12066 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12067 have to be first, for instance.
12069 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12070 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12071 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12072 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12073 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12074 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12075 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12077 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12078 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12084 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12085 previously mentioned.
12087 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12089 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12090 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12091 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12092 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12093 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12096 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12097 '(("innd" (ding))))
12100 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12102 The default value is
12105 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12106 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12107 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12110 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12111 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12113 @item nntp-maximum-request
12114 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12115 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this back end
12116 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12117 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12118 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12119 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12120 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12122 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12123 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12124 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12125 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
12126 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12127 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12128 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12129 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12130 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12131 no timeouts are done.
12133 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
12134 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
12135 @c @cindex PPP connections
12136 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
12137 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
12138 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
12139 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
12140 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
12141 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
12142 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
12143 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
12144 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
12145 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
12147 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
12148 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
12149 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
12150 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
12151 @c described above.
12153 @item nntp-server-hook
12154 @vindex nntp-server-hook
12155 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
12158 @item nntp-buggy-select
12159 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
12160 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
12162 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12163 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12164 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
12165 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
12168 @item nntp-xover-commands
12169 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12172 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
12173 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12177 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12178 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
12179 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12180 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12181 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
12182 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12183 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12184 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12185 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12186 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12187 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12189 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12190 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12191 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
12193 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12194 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12195 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12196 server closes connection.
12198 @item nntp-record-commands
12199 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12200 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12201 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12202 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
12203 that doesn't seem to work.
12205 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12206 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12207 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12208 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12209 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12210 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12211 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12212 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12214 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12215 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12216 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12217 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12218 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12219 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12220 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12223 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12226 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12227 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12229 @item nntp-list-options
12230 @vindex nntp-list-options
12231 List of newsgroup name used for a option of the LIST command to restrict
12232 the listing output to only the specified newsgroups. Each newsgroup name
12233 can be a shell-style wildcard, for instance, @dfn{fj.*}, @dfn{japan.*},
12234 etc. Fortunately, if the server can accept such a option, it will
12235 probably make gnus run faster. You may use it as a server variable as
12239 (setq gnus-select-method
12240 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12241 (nntp-list-options ("fj.*" "japan.*"))))
12244 @item nntp-options-subscribe
12245 @vindex nntp-options-subscribe
12246 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will be subscribed
12247 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12248 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12249 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12250 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12253 (setq gnus-select-method
12254 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12255 (nntp-options-subscribe "^fj\\.\\|^japan\\.")))
12258 @item nntp-options-not-subscribe
12259 @vindex nntp-options-not-subscribe
12260 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will not be subscribed
12261 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12262 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12263 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12264 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12267 (setq gnus-select-method
12268 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12269 (nntp-options-not-subscribe "\\.binaries\\.")))
12274 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12275 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12276 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12280 @node Direct Functions
12281 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12282 @cindex direct connection functions
12284 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12285 between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
12286 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12287 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12290 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12291 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12292 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12295 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12296 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12297 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12298 this you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
12299 installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also
12300 need @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distribution, for instance). You then
12301 define a server as follows:
12304 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
12306 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
12307 ;; however, openssl s_client -port doesn't like named ports
12309 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12310 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12311 (nntp-port-number 563)
12312 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12315 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12316 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12317 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12318 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12319 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12320 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12321 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12322 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12326 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12327 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12328 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12331 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12332 session, which is not a good idea.
12336 @node Indirect Functions
12337 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12338 @cindex indirect connection functions
12340 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12341 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
12342 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12343 the "via" family of connection: they're all prefixed with "via" to make
12344 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12345 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12348 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12349 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12350 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12351 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12352 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12354 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12357 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12358 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12359 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12360 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12362 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12363 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12364 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12365 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12366 @samp{ssh} for `nntp-via-rlogin-command', you may set this to
12367 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12368 this to @samp{("-t")} or @samp{("-C" "-t")} if the telnet command
12369 requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate host.
12372 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12373 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12374 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12375 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12377 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12380 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12381 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12382 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12385 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12386 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12387 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12388 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12390 @item nntp-via-user-password
12391 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12392 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12394 @item nntp-via-envuser
12395 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12396 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12397 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12398 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12400 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12401 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12402 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12403 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12410 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12415 @item nntp-via-user-name
12416 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12417 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12419 @item nntp-via-address
12420 @vindex nntp-via-address
12421 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12426 @node Common Variables
12427 @subsubsection Common Variables
12429 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12430 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12435 @item nntp-pre-command
12436 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12437 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native connection
12438 function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream} and
12439 @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is where you would put a @samp{SOCKS}
12440 wrapper for instance.
12443 @vindex nntp-address
12444 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
12446 @item nntp-port-number
12447 @vindex nntp-port-number
12448 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{nntp}.
12449 If you use @sc{nntp} over @sc{ssl}, you may want to use integer ports rather
12450 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews}), because
12451 external SSL tools may not work with named ports.
12453 @item nntp-end-of-line
12454 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12455 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
12456 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12457 using a non native connection function.
12459 @item nntp-telnet-command
12460 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12461 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
12462 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
12463 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
12465 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12466 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12467 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12474 @subsection News Spool
12478 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12479 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12480 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12483 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12484 anything else) as the address.
12486 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12487 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12488 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12489 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12493 @item nnspool-inews-program
12494 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12495 Program used to post an article.
12497 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12498 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12499 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12501 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12502 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12503 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12504 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12506 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12507 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12508 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
12509 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12511 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12512 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12513 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12515 @item nnspool-active-file
12516 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12517 The name of the active file.
12519 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12520 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12521 The name of the group descriptions file.
12523 @item nnspool-history-file
12524 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12525 The name of the news history file.
12527 @item nnspool-active-times-file
12528 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
12529 The name of the active date file.
12531 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
12532 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
12533 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
12536 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12537 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12539 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12540 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
12541 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
12547 @section Getting Mail
12548 @cindex reading mail
12551 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
12555 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
12556 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
12557 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
12558 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
12559 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
12560 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
12561 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
12562 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
12563 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
12564 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
12565 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
12566 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
12567 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
12571 @node Mail in a Newsreader
12572 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
12574 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
12575 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
12576 of a culture shock.
12578 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
12579 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
12581 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
12582 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
12583 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
12584 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
12586 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
12588 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
12589 deleted? How awful!
12591 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
12592 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
12593 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
12594 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
12597 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
12598 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
12599 they want to treat a message.
12601 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
12602 via @sc{smtp}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
12603 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
12604 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
12605 archived somewhere else.
12607 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
12608 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
12609 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
12610 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
12611 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
12613 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
12614 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
12615 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
12617 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
12618 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
12621 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
12622 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
12623 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
12624 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
12625 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
12627 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
12628 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
12629 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
12630 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
12631 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
12632 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
12636 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
12637 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
12639 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
12640 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
12641 and things will happen automatically.
12643 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
12644 mail" back end), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
12647 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12650 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
12651 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
12652 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
12653 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
12654 like any other group.
12656 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
12659 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12660 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12661 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12665 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
12666 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
12667 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
12670 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
12671 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
12672 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
12675 @node Splitting Mail
12676 @subsection Splitting Mail
12677 @cindex splitting mail
12678 @cindex mail splitting
12680 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
12681 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
12682 to be split into groups.
12685 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12686 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12687 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12688 ("mail.other" "")))
12691 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
12692 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
12693 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
12694 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
12695 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
12696 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
12697 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
12700 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
12703 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
12704 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
12705 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
12706 mail belongs in that group.
12708 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
12709 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
12710 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
12711 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
12712 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
12713 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
12715 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
12716 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
12717 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
12718 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
12719 thinks should carry this mail message.
12721 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
12722 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
12723 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
12724 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
12726 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
12727 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
12728 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
12729 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
12730 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
12732 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
12735 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
12736 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
12737 links. If that's the case for you, set
12738 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
12739 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
12741 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
12742 @kindex nnmail-split-history
12743 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
12744 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
12745 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
12746 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
12749 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
12750 Header lines longer than the value of
12751 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
12754 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
12755 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
12756 By default the splitting codes MIME decodes headers so you can match
12757 on non-ASCII strings. The @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
12758 variable specifies the default charset for decoding. The behaviour
12759 can be turned off completely by binding
12760 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to nil, which is useful if you
12761 want to match articles based on the raw header data.
12763 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
12764 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If
12765 you specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable
12766 @code{mail-sources} @pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}, however, then
12767 splitting does @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
12768 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-nil value to make splitting
12769 happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on other kinds
12772 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
12773 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
12774 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
12775 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
12776 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
12777 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
12778 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
12779 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
12780 month's rent money.
12784 @subsection Mail Sources
12786 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
12787 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
12791 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
12792 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
12793 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
12797 @node Mail Source Specifiers
12798 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
12800 @cindex mail server
12803 @cindex mail source
12805 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
12806 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
12811 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
12814 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
12815 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
12816 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
12819 The following mail source types are available:
12823 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
12829 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
12830 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
12831 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
12834 An example file mail source:
12837 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
12840 Or using the default file name:
12846 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
12847 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
12848 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
12851 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
12855 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
12858 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
12862 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
12865 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
12867 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
12870 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
12874 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
12875 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
12876 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files. That is,
12877 there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that directory and
12878 groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in
12879 the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
12880 of @code{.spool}.) Setting
12881 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus to
12882 scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you want
12883 to scan mail groups at a specified level.
12885 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
12886 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
12887 that to a non-nil value, then the normal splitting process is applied
12888 to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
12894 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
12898 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
12902 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
12903 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
12904 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
12905 predicate are considered.
12909 Script run before/after fetching mail.
12913 An example directory mail source:
12916 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
12921 Get mail from a POP server.
12927 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
12928 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12931 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
12932 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
12933 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
12934 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
12935 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
12938 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
12942 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
12946 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
12947 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
12950 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
12953 The valid format specifier characters are:
12957 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
12958 included in this string.
12961 The name of the server.
12964 The port number of the server.
12967 The user name to use.
12970 The password to use.
12973 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12974 corresponding keywords.
12977 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12978 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12981 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12982 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12985 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
12986 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
12989 @item :authentication
12990 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
12991 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
12995 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this can be the symbol
12996 @code{ssl}, the symbol @code{tls} or others. The default is @code{nil}
12997 and use insecure connections. Note that for SSL/TLS, you need external
12998 programs and libraries:
13002 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL@. Requires OpenSSL (the program
13003 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
13004 library @samp{ssl.el}.
13006 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to SSL)@.
13007 Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
13012 Non-@code{nil} if mail is to be left on the server and UIDL used for
13013 message retrieval. The default is @code{nil}.
13017 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
13018 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
13020 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
13021 default user name, and default fetcher:
13027 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
13030 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
13031 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
13034 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
13037 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
13041 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
13042 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
13043 contains exactly one mail.
13049 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
13050 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
13053 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
13054 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
13056 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
13057 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
13058 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
13061 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
13062 from locking problems).
13066 Two example maildir mail sources:
13069 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
13070 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
13074 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
13079 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
13080 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
13081 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
13082 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
13085 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, SSL/TLS and STARTTLS support you
13086 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
13092 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
13093 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13096 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
13097 @samp{993} for SSL/TLS connections.
13100 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
13104 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
13108 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
13109 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
13110 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{ssl},
13111 @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
13113 @item :authentication
13114 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
13115 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
13116 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
13117 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13120 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13121 mapped into the `imap-shell-program' variable. This should be a
13122 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13128 The valid format specifier characters are:
13132 The name of the server.
13135 User name from `imap-default-user'.
13138 The port number of the server.
13141 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13142 corresponding keywords.
13145 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13146 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13149 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13150 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13151 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
13152 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13153 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13154 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13157 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13158 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13159 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13160 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13163 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
13164 after finishing the fetch.
13168 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
13171 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13173 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13177 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{www.hotmail.com},
13178 @uref{webmail.netscape.com}, @uref{www.netaddress.com},
13179 @uref{mail.yahoo..com}.
13181 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13182 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13184 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13190 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13191 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13194 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13198 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13202 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
13203 folder after finishing the fetch.
13207 An example webmail source:
13210 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13212 :password "secret")
13217 @item Common Keywords
13218 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13224 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
13225 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
13229 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13234 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13235 useful when you use local mail and news.
13240 @subsubsection Function Interface
13242 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13243 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13244 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13245 consider the following mail-source setting:
13248 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13249 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13252 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13253 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13254 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13255 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13256 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13258 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13261 @node Mail Source Customization
13262 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13264 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13265 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13269 @item mail-source-crash-box
13270 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13271 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
13272 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13274 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13275 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13276 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
13278 @item mail-source-directory
13279 @vindex mail-source-directory
13280 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13281 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13282 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13285 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13286 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13287 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13288 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13289 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13290 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13292 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13293 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13294 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13296 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13297 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13298 If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
13299 @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13304 @node Fetching Mail
13305 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13307 @vindex mail-sources
13308 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13309 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13310 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13311 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13313 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13314 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13317 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
13318 mail server, you'd say something like:
13323 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13324 :password "secret")))
13327 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13331 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13332 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13335 :password "secret")))
13339 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13340 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13341 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13342 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13343 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13344 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13348 @node Mail Back End Variables
13349 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13351 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13355 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13356 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13357 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13358 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13360 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13361 @item nnmail-split-hook
13362 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
13363 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
13364 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
13365 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13366 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13367 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13368 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13369 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13370 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13373 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13374 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13375 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13376 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13377 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13378 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13379 starting to handle the new mail) and
13380 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13381 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13382 default file modes the new mail files get:
13385 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13386 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13388 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13389 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13392 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13393 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13394 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13395 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13396 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13397 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13398 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13400 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13401 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13402 @findex delete-file
13403 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13405 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13406 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13407 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13408 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13409 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13411 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13412 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13413 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13414 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13415 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13417 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13418 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13419 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13424 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13425 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13426 @cindex mail splitting
13427 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13429 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13430 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13431 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13432 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13433 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13434 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13436 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13439 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
13440 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
13441 ;; from real errors.
13442 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13444 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
13445 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
13446 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
13447 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13448 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13449 ;; Other mailing lists...
13450 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13451 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13452 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
13453 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
13454 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
13455 ;; message was really cross-posted.
13456 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13457 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13459 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13460 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
13464 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
13465 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
13466 the five possible split syntaxes:
13471 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
13472 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
13476 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
13477 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
13478 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
13479 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
13480 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
13481 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
13482 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
13483 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13486 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13487 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
13488 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
13489 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
13492 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13493 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
13496 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
13497 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
13500 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
13501 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
13502 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
13503 function should return a @var{split}.
13506 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13507 body of the messages:
13510 (defun split-on-body ()
13512 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
13513 (goto-char (point-min))
13514 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13518 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
13519 when the @code{:} function is run.
13522 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13523 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
13524 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
13528 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
13532 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
13533 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
13534 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
13535 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
13536 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
13538 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
13539 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
13540 are expanded as specified by the variable
13541 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
13542 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
13545 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
13546 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
13547 when all this splitting is performed.
13549 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
13550 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
13551 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
13554 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
13557 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
13558 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
13560 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
13561 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
13562 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
13563 groupings 1 through 9.
13565 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
13566 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
13567 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
13568 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
13569 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
13570 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
13571 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
13572 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
13573 it once per thread.
13575 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
13576 @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
13577 you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
13580 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; or 'delete
13581 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
13583 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
13584 ;; other splits go here
13588 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
13589 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
13590 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
13591 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
13592 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
13593 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
13594 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
13595 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
13596 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
13597 unless the group name matches the regexp
13598 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
13599 that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
13600 number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
13601 (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
13602 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13603 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
13604 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
13605 messages goes into the new group.
13607 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
13608 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
13609 outgoing messages are written to an `outgoing' group, you could set
13610 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
13611 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
13615 @node Group Mail Splitting
13616 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
13617 @cindex mail splitting
13618 @cindex group mail splitting
13620 @findex gnus-group-split
13621 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
13622 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
13623 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
13624 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
13625 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
13626 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
13627 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
13628 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
13630 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
13631 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
13632 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
13633 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
13635 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
13636 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
13637 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
13638 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
13639 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
13640 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
13641 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
13643 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
13644 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
13645 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
13646 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
13647 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
13648 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
13649 @code{gnus-group-split}.
13651 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
13652 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
13653 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
13654 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
13655 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
13656 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
13657 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
13658 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
13659 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
13660 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
13661 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
13662 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
13663 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
13665 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
13670 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
13671 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
13673 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
13674 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
13675 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
13676 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
13678 ((split-spec . catch-all))
13681 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
13682 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
13683 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
13686 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
13687 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
13688 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
13692 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
13693 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
13694 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
13698 (: gnus-group-split-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
13701 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
13702 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
13703 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
13704 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
13705 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
13706 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
13707 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
13708 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
13709 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
13711 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
13712 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
13713 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
13714 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
13715 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
13716 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
13717 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
13718 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
13719 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
13721 @findex gnus-group-split-update
13722 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
13723 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
13724 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
13725 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
13726 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus.el}:
13729 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
13732 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
13733 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
13734 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
13735 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
13736 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
13739 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
13740 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
13741 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
13742 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
13744 @node Incorporating Old Mail
13745 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
13746 @cindex incorporating old mail
13747 @cindex import old mail
13749 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
13750 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
13751 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
13754 Doing so can be quite easy.
13756 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
13757 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
13758 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
13759 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
13760 your @code{nnml} groups.
13766 Go to the group buffer.
13769 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
13770 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13773 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
13776 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
13777 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13780 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
13781 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
13784 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
13785 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
13786 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
13787 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
13788 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
13790 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
13791 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
13792 using the new mail back end.
13795 @node Expiring Mail
13796 @subsection Expiring Mail
13797 @cindex article expiry
13799 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
13800 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
13801 different approach to mail reading.
13803 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
13804 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
13805 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
13806 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
13807 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
13808 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
13811 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
13812 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default keybindings, this means
13813 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
13814 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
13815 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
13816 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
13817 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
13818 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
13819 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
13821 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
13822 two features, called `auto-expire' and `total-expire', that can help you
13823 with this. In a nutshell, `auto-expire' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
13824 for you when you select an article. And `total-expire' means that Gnus
13825 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
13826 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
13827 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
13830 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
13831 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
13832 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
13833 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
13834 into its own group.)
13836 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
13837 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
13838 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
13839 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
13840 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
13841 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
13842 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring @pxref{Adaptive
13843 Scoring}. Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
13846 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13847 Groups that match the regular expression
13848 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
13849 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
13850 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
13852 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
13853 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
13854 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
13855 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
13856 @file{.gnus.el} file:
13858 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
13860 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
13861 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
13862 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
13865 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
13866 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
13867 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
13868 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
13869 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
13871 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
13872 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
13875 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13876 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
13879 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
13880 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
13882 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
13883 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
13884 don't really mix very well.
13886 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
13887 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
13888 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
13889 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
13892 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
13893 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
13894 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
13895 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
13898 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13900 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13902 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
13904 ((string= group "mail.junk")
13906 ((string= group "important")
13912 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
13913 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
13915 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
13916 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
13917 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
13920 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
13921 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
13923 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
13924 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
13925 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
13926 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
13927 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
13928 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
13929 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
13930 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
13931 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
13932 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
13933 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
13934 from as its parameter) which should return a target -- either a group
13935 name or @code{delete}.
13937 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
13939 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
13942 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13943 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13944 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
13945 expire mail to groups according to the variable
13946 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
13949 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13950 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13951 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
13952 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
13953 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
13956 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
13957 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
13958 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
13959 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
13960 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
13961 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
13963 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
13964 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
13965 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
13966 easier for procmail users.
13968 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
13969 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
13970 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
13971 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
13972 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
13973 caution. Even more dangerous is the
13974 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
13975 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
13976 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
13977 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
13978 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
13979 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
13980 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
13983 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
13985 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
13986 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
13987 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
13988 auto-expire turned on.
13992 @subsection Washing Mail
13993 @cindex mail washing
13994 @cindex list server brain damage
13995 @cindex incoming mail treatment
13997 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
13998 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
13999 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
14000 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
14001 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
14002 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
14004 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
14005 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
14006 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
14009 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
14010 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
14011 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
14012 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
14015 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14016 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14017 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
14018 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
14019 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
14022 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14023 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14024 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
14025 Emacs running on MS machines.
14029 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14030 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14031 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
14032 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
14035 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14036 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14037 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
14038 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
14040 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
14041 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
14042 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
14043 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
14044 into a feature by documenting it.)
14046 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14047 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14048 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
14049 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
14050 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
14051 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
14052 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
14055 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
14056 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
14059 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
14060 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
14063 This can also be done non-destructively with
14064 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
14066 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
14067 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
14068 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
14070 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14071 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14073 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
14074 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
14075 @code{References} headers.
14079 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14080 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14081 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
14085 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
14086 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
14087 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
14094 @subsection Duplicates
14096 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
14097 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
14098 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
14099 @cindex duplicate mails
14100 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
14101 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
14102 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
14103 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
14104 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
14105 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
14106 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
14107 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
14108 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
14109 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
14110 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
14111 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
14112 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
14114 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
14115 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
14116 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
14117 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
14119 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
14122 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
14123 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14127 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14128 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
14129 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14130 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
14131 (any mail "mail.misc")
14138 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14139 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14144 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14145 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14146 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14147 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14148 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14151 @node Not Reading Mail
14152 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14154 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14155 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14156 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14158 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14159 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14160 mail, which should help.
14162 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14163 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14164 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14165 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14166 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14167 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14168 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
14169 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14170 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14171 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14172 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14174 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14175 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14179 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14180 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
14182 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
14183 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
14184 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
14186 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
14187 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
14188 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
14189 Spool}). You might notice that only five back ends are listed below;
14190 @code{nnmaildir}'s documentation has not yet been completely
14191 incorporated into this manual. Until it is, you can find it at
14192 @uref{http://multivac.cwru.edu./nnmaildir/}.
14195 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
14196 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
14197 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
14198 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
14199 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
14200 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
14204 @node Unix Mail Box
14205 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
14207 @cindex unix mail box
14209 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14210 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14211 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
14212 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
14213 which group it belongs in.
14215 Virtual server settings:
14218 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
14219 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14220 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
14223 @item nnmbox-active-file
14224 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14225 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
14226 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
14228 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
14229 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14230 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
14231 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
14236 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
14240 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14241 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14242 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
14243 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
14244 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
14246 Virtual server settings:
14249 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
14250 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14251 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
14253 @item nnbabyl-active-file
14254 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14255 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
14256 @file{~/.rmail-active}
14258 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14259 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14260 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14266 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14268 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
14270 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14271 format. It should be used with some caution.
14273 @vindex nnml-directory
14274 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14275 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14276 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14277 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14279 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14282 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14283 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14284 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14285 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14286 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14287 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14288 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14289 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14291 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14292 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14293 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14294 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14296 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14298 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14299 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14300 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14301 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14302 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14303 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14304 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14305 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14308 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14309 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14310 them next time it starts.
14312 Virtual server settings:
14315 @item nnml-directory
14316 @vindex nnml-directory
14317 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
14318 The default is the value of `message-directory' (whose default value is
14321 @item nnml-active-file
14322 @vindex nnml-active-file
14323 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14324 @file{~/Mail/active"}.
14326 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14327 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14328 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14329 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}.
14331 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14332 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14333 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14336 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14337 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14338 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14339 default is @code{nil}.
14341 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14342 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14343 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14345 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14346 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14347 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14349 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14350 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14351 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14352 default is @code{nil}.
14354 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14355 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14356 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
14358 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
14359 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
14360 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
14365 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
14366 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
14367 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
14368 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
14369 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
14370 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
14371 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
14376 @subsubsection MH Spool
14378 @cindex mh-e mail spool
14380 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
14381 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
14382 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
14383 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
14385 Virtual server settings:
14388 @item nnmh-directory
14389 @vindex nnmh-directory
14390 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
14391 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14394 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
14395 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14396 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
14400 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
14401 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
14402 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
14403 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
14404 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
14405 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
14406 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
14411 @subsubsection Mail Folders
14413 @cindex mbox folders
14414 @cindex mail folders
14416 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
14417 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
14418 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
14421 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
14423 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
14424 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14425 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14426 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
14427 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
14428 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
14429 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
14430 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
14431 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
14432 @code{nnfolder} directory).
14434 Virtual server settings:
14437 @item nnfolder-directory
14438 @vindex nnfolder-directory
14439 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
14440 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14443 @item nnfolder-active-file
14444 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
14445 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
14447 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14448 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14449 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14450 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}
14452 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
14453 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14454 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
14457 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14458 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14459 @cindex backup files
14460 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
14461 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
14462 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
14463 your @file{.emacs} file:
14466 (defun turn-off-backup ()
14467 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
14469 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
14472 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14473 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14474 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
14475 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
14476 extract some information from it before removing it.
14478 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14479 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14480 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14481 default is @code{nil}.
14483 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14484 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14485 The extension for @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
14487 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
14488 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
14489 The directory where the @sc{nov} files should be stored. If nil,
14490 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14492 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14493 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14494 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14495 default is @code{nil}.
14497 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14498 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14499 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
14501 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
14502 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
14503 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If nil,
14504 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14509 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
14510 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
14511 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
14512 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
14513 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
14514 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
14517 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
14518 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
14520 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
14521 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
14522 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
14523 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
14524 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
14526 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
14527 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
14528 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
14529 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
14530 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
14531 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
14532 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
14533 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
14536 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
14537 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
14538 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
14539 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
14544 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
14545 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
14546 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
14547 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
14548 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
14549 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
14550 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
14551 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
14552 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
14553 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
14554 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
14555 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
14556 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
14561 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
14562 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
14563 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
14564 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
14565 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
14566 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
14567 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
14568 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
14569 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
14570 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
14571 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
14572 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
14573 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
14574 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
14576 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
14577 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
14582 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
14583 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
14584 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
14585 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
14586 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
14587 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
14588 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
14589 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
14590 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
14591 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
14592 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
14593 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
14594 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
14595 provided by the active file and overviews.
14597 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
14598 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
14599 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
14600 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
14601 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
14604 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
14605 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
14610 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
14611 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
14612 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
14613 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
14614 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
14615 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
14616 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
14620 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
14621 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
14622 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
14623 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
14624 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
14625 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
14626 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
14627 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
14628 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
14630 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
14631 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
14632 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
14633 friendly mail back end all over.
14637 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
14638 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
14639 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
14640 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
14641 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
14642 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
14643 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to ReiserFS
14644 (@uref{http://www.namesys.com/}) or another non-block-structured
14647 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
14648 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
14649 This means you can skip Gnus's mail splitting if your mail is already
14650 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
14651 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
14652 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
14653 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
14654 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
14655 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
14656 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will undergo
14657 treatment such as duplicate checking.
14659 An article will not necessarily keep the same number across Gnus
14660 sessions; articles are renumbered starting from 1 for each Gnus session
14661 (more precisely, each time you open the @code{nnmaildir} server). This
14662 way, you don't get gaps in your article number ranges, and when entering
14663 large groups, Gnus is likely to give a more accurate article count. The
14664 price is that @code{nnmaildir} doesn't work with the cache or agent.
14665 This will probably be changed in the future.
14667 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
14668 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
14669 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
14670 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
14671 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
14674 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses group
14675 parameters slightly different from those of other mail back ends.
14677 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
14678 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
14679 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
14680 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
14681 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
14682 would) to make it use less memory.
14684 Startup and shutdown are likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than
14685 with other back ends. Everything in between is likely to be faster,
14686 depending in part on your file system.
14688 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
14689 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
14694 @node Browsing the Web
14695 @section Browsing the Web
14697 @cindex browsing the web
14701 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
14702 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
14703 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
14704 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
14705 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
14706 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
14707 even know what a news group is.
14709 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
14710 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
14711 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
14712 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
14713 you mad in the end.
14715 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
14718 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
14719 interfaces to these sources.
14723 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
14724 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
14725 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
14726 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
14727 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
14728 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
14731 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
14733 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
14734 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
14735 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
14736 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
14737 though, you should be ok.
14739 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
14740 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
14741 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
14742 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
14743 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
14745 @node Archiving Mail
14746 @subsection Archiving Mail
14747 @cindex archiving mail
14748 @cindex backup of mail
14750 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
14751 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
14752 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
14753 marks is fairly simple.
14755 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
14756 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
14759 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
14760 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
14761 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
14762 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
14763 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
14764 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
14765 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
14766 before you restore the data.
14768 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
14769 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
14770 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
14771 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
14772 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
14773 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
14774 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
14775 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
14776 is unnecessary in that case.
14779 @subsection Web Searches
14784 @cindex Usenet searches
14785 @cindex searching the Usenet
14787 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
14788 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
14789 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
14790 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
14791 searches without having to use a browser.
14793 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
14794 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
14795 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
14796 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
14797 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
14799 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
14800 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
14801 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
14802 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
14803 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
14804 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
14805 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
14806 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
14807 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
14808 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
14811 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
14812 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
14813 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
14814 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
14815 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
14816 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
14818 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
14819 to use @code{nnweb}.
14821 Virtual server variables:
14826 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
14827 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
14828 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
14831 @vindex nnweb-search
14832 The search string to feed to the search engine.
14834 @item nnweb-max-hits
14835 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
14836 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
14839 @item nnweb-type-definition
14840 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
14841 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
14842 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
14847 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
14851 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
14854 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
14857 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
14861 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
14868 @subsection Slashdot
14872 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
14873 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
14874 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
14876 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
14877 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
14880 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14881 '((nnslashdot "")))
14884 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
14885 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
14886 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
14887 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
14888 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
14891 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
14892 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14894 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
14895 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
14896 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
14897 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
14898 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
14899 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
14902 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
14905 @item nnslashdot-threaded
14906 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
14907 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
14908 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
14909 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
14910 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
14911 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
14913 @item nnslashdot-login-name
14914 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
14915 The login name to use when posting.
14917 @item nnslashdot-password
14918 @vindex nnslashdot-password
14919 The password to use when posting.
14921 @item nnslashdot-directory
14922 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
14923 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
14924 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
14926 @item nnslashdot-active-url
14927 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
14928 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
14929 news articles and comments. The default is
14930 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
14932 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
14933 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
14934 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
14936 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
14938 @item nnslashdot-article-url
14939 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
14940 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
14942 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
14944 @item nnslashdot-threshold
14945 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
14946 The score threshold. The default is -1.
14948 @item nnslashdot-group-number
14949 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
14950 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
14951 updated. The default is 0.
14958 @subsection Ultimate
14960 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
14962 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
14963 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
14964 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
14965 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
14967 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
14968 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
14969 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
14970 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
14971 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
14972 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
14973 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
14975 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
14978 @item nnultimate-directory
14979 @vindex nnultimate-directory
14980 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
14981 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
14986 @subsection Web Archive
14988 @cindex Web Archive
14990 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
14991 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
14992 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
14993 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
14996 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
14997 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
14998 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
14999 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
15000 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
15001 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
15002 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
15004 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
15007 @item nnwarchive-directory
15008 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
15009 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
15010 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
15012 @item nnwarchive-login
15013 @vindex nnwarchive-login
15014 The account name on the web server.
15016 @item nnwarchive-passwd
15017 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
15018 The password for your account on the web server.
15026 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
15027 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
15028 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15031 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
15032 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
15035 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
15038 @item nnrss-directory
15039 @vindex nnrss-directory
15040 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
15041 @samp{~/News/rss/}.
15045 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
15046 the summary buffer.
15049 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
15050 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
15052 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
15054 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
15055 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
15058 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
15061 (require 'browse-url)
15063 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
15065 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
15068 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
15069 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
15072 (browse-url (cdr url))
15073 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
15074 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
15076 (eval-after-load "gnus"
15077 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
15078 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
15079 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
15082 @node Customizing w3
15083 @subsection Customizing w3
15089 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
15090 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
15091 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
15093 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
15094 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
15095 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
15098 (eval-after-load "w3"
15100 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
15101 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
15102 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
15103 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
15105 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
15108 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
15109 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
15118 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
15119 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
15120 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
15121 specify the network address of the server.
15123 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
15124 POP can, it can hence be viewed as a POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
15125 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
15126 protocol -- however, @sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp}
15127 because news is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
15129 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a POP++, use an imap entry in
15130 @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the
15131 @sc{imap} server and store them on the local disk. This is not the
15132 usage described in this section--@xref{Mail Sources}.
15134 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
15135 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
15136 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
15137 usage explained in this section.
15139 A server configuration in @code{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
15140 might look something like the following. (Note that for SSL/TLS, you
15141 need external programs and libraries, see below.)
15144 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15145 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
15146 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
15148 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15149 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
15150 ; a UW server running on localhost
15152 (nnimap-server-port 143)
15153 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15154 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
15155 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
15156 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
15157 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
15158 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
15159 (nnimap-stream network))
15160 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
15162 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
15163 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
15164 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
15167 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
15172 @item nnimap-address
15173 @vindex nnimap-address
15175 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
15176 server name if not specified.
15178 @item nnimap-server-port
15179 @vindex nnimap-server-port
15180 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
15182 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
15185 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15186 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
15189 @item nnimap-list-pattern
15190 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
15191 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
15192 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
15193 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
15194 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
15195 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
15197 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
15198 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
15199 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
15202 Example server specification:
15205 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15206 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
15207 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
15210 @item nnimap-stream
15211 @vindex nnimap-stream
15212 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
15213 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
15214 of SSL/TLS. (@sc{imap} over SSL/TLS is being replaced by STARTTLS, which
15215 can be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
15217 Example server specification:
15220 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15221 (nnimap-stream ssl))
15224 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
15228 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
15229 @samp{imtest} program.
15231 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
15233 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
15234 SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
15237 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the program
15238 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
15239 library @samp{ssl.el}.
15241 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
15243 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
15246 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
15247 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
15248 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
15249 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
15250 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
15251 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
15252 restrictions on @sc{imap} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
15253 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
15254 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
15257 @vindex imap-ssl-program
15258 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
15259 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
15260 and nnimap support it too - although the most recent versions of
15261 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
15262 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
15263 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
15264 to OpenSSL/SSLeay. You also need @samp{ssl.el} (from the W3
15265 distribution, for instance).
15267 @vindex imap-shell-program
15268 @vindex imap-shell-host
15269 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
15270 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
15272 @item nnimap-authenticator
15273 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
15275 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
15276 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
15278 Example server specification:
15281 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15282 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
15285 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
15289 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
15290 external program @code{imtest}.
15292 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
15295 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
15296 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
15298 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
15300 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
15302 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your email address as password.
15305 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
15307 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
15308 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
15309 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
15310 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
15311 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
15312 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
15315 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
15316 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
15317 running in circles yet?
15319 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
15320 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
15323 The possible options are:
15328 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
15331 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
15332 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
15333 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
15334 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
15336 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
15341 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
15342 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
15344 If non-nil (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as well),
15345 for other @sc{imap} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
15346 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
15347 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @sc{imap}
15348 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @sc{imap}
15351 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
15352 enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
15355 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
15356 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15357 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
15358 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15361 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
15362 as ticked for other users.
15364 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
15366 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
15368 This variable contain the @sc{imap} search command sent to server when
15369 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
15370 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
15371 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
15373 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
15374 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
15375 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
15376 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
15378 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
15379 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
15381 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
15382 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
15383 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
15389 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
15390 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
15391 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
15392 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
15393 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use IMAP namespace in Gnus.
15398 @node Splitting in IMAP
15399 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
15400 @cindex splitting imap mail
15402 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
15403 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
15404 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
15405 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
15406 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
15410 Here are the variables of interest:
15414 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
15415 @cindex splitting, crosspost
15417 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
15419 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
15420 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
15422 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
15424 @item nnimap-split-inbox
15425 @cindex splitting, inbox
15427 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
15429 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
15430 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
15434 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
15435 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
15438 No nnmail equivalent.
15440 @item nnimap-split-rule
15441 @cindex Splitting, rules
15442 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
15444 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
15447 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
15448 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
15449 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
15450 Neither did I, we need examples.
15453 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15455 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
15456 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
15457 ("INBOX.private" "")))
15460 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
15461 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
15462 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
15464 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
15465 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
15469 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
15472 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
15473 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
15475 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
15476 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
15477 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
15478 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
15480 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
15481 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
15482 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
15483 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
15484 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
15485 them every time you fetch new mail.)
15487 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
15488 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
15489 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
15491 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
15492 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
15493 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15495 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
15497 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
15498 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
15499 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
15502 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15503 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
15504 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
15505 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
15506 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
15507 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
15510 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
15511 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
15512 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
15513 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
15514 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
15515 group/function elements.
15517 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
15519 @item nnimap-split-predicate
15521 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
15523 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
15524 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
15526 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
15527 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
15528 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
15531 @item nnimap-split-fancy
15532 @cindex splitting, fancy
15533 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
15534 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
15536 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15537 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
15538 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
15540 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
15541 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15542 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
15543 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15548 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
15549 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
15552 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
15554 @item nnimap-split-download-body
15555 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
15556 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
15558 Set to non-nil to download entire articles during splitting. This is
15559 generally not required, and will slow things down considerably. You
15560 may need it if you want to use an advanced splitting function that
15561 analyses the body to split the article.
15565 @node Expiring in IMAP
15566 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
15567 @cindex expiring imap mail
15569 Even though @sc{nnimap} is not a proper @sc{nnmail} derived back end,
15570 it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
15571 Unlike splitting in IMAP (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}) it do not clone
15572 the @sc{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating @var{nnimap-expiry-wait})
15573 but reuse the @sc{nnmail} variables. What follows below are the
15574 variables used by the @sc{nnimap} expiry process.
15576 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @sc{imap} server is
15577 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
15578 @sc{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
15579 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
15580 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
15581 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
15582 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
15583 messages. Most do, fortunately.
15587 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
15588 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
15590 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
15591 number, the symbol @var{immediate} or @var{never}.
15593 @item nnmail-expiry-target
15595 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
15596 @sc{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
15597 that if the destination is a IMAP group on the same server, the
15598 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
15602 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
15603 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
15604 @cindex editing imap acls
15605 @cindex Access Control Lists
15606 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
15608 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
15610 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
15611 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
15612 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
15615 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
15616 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
15617 editing window with detailed instructions.
15619 Some possible uses:
15623 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
15624 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
15625 follow the list without subscribing to it.
15627 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
15628 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
15629 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
15633 @node Expunging mailboxes
15634 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
15638 @cindex Manual expunging
15640 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
15642 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
15643 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
15644 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
15646 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
15649 @node A note on namespaces
15650 @subsection A note on namespaces
15651 @cindex IMAP namespace
15654 The IMAP protocol has a concept called namespaces, described by the
15655 following text in the RFC:
15658 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
15660 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
15661 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
15662 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
15663 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
15665 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
15666 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
15667 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
15668 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
15669 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
15670 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
15673 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the IMAP
15674 implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace prefixes in a way
15675 that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
15677 Specifically, University of Washington's IMAP server uses mailbox
15678 names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only in the
15679 @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is created
15680 (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed without
15681 the namespace prefix, i.e @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do not make it
15682 possible for the user to guarantee that user entered mailbox names
15683 will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands, you should
15684 simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in Gnus.
15686 See the UoW @sc{imapd} documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
15687 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
15688 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
15690 @node Other Sources
15691 @section Other Sources
15693 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
15694 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
15698 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
15699 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
15700 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
15701 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
15702 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
15706 @node Directory Groups
15707 @subsection Directory Groups
15709 @cindex directory groups
15711 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
15712 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
15715 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
15716 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
15717 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
15718 back end to read directories. Big deal.
15720 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
15721 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
15722 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
15723 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
15724 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
15726 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
15728 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
15729 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
15730 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
15731 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
15734 @node Anything Groups
15735 @subsection Anything Groups
15738 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
15739 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
15740 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
15743 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
15744 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
15745 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
15746 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
15747 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
15748 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
15749 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
15750 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
15751 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
15752 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
15755 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
15756 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
15757 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
15758 in the article buffer, just as usual.
15760 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
15761 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
15762 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
15763 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
15765 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
15766 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
15767 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
15768 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
15769 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
15770 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
15771 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
15772 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
15777 @item nneething-map-file-directory
15778 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
15779 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
15780 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
15782 @item nneething-exclude-files
15783 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
15784 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
15785 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
15787 @item nneething-include-files
15788 @vindex nneething-include-files
15789 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
15790 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
15792 @item nneething-map-file
15793 @vindex nneething-map-file
15794 Name of the map files.
15798 @node Document Groups
15799 @subsection Document Groups
15801 @cindex documentation group
15804 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
15805 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
15812 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
15817 The standard Unix mbox file.
15819 @cindex MMDF mail box
15821 The MMDF mail box format.
15824 Several news articles appended into a file.
15827 @cindex rnews batch files
15828 The rnews batch transport format.
15829 @cindex forwarded messages
15832 Forwarded articles.
15835 Netscape mail boxes.
15838 @sc{mime} multipart messages.
15840 @item standard-digest
15841 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
15844 A @sc{mime} digest of messages.
15846 @item lanl-gov-announce
15847 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
15849 @item rfc822-forward
15850 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
15853 The Outlook mail box.
15856 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
15859 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
15862 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
15865 An RFC934-forwarded message.
15871 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
15874 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
15880 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
15881 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
15882 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
15885 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
15886 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
15887 group. And that's it.
15889 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
15890 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
15891 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
15892 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
15893 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
15894 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
15895 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
15896 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
15897 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
15898 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
15900 Virtual server variables:
15903 @item nndoc-article-type
15904 @vindex nndoc-article-type
15905 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
15906 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
15907 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
15908 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
15909 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
15911 @item nndoc-post-type
15912 @vindex nndoc-post-type
15913 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
15914 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
15919 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
15923 @node Document Server Internals
15924 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
15926 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
15927 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
15928 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
15929 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
15931 First, here's an example document type definition:
15935 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
15936 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
15939 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
15940 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
15941 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
15942 types can be defined with very few settings:
15945 @item first-article
15946 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
15947 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
15950 @item article-begin
15951 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
15952 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
15954 @item head-begin-function
15955 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
15958 @item nndoc-head-begin
15959 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
15962 @item nndoc-head-end
15963 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
15964 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
15966 @item body-begin-function
15967 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
15971 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
15974 @item body-end-function
15975 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
15979 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
15982 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
15983 regexp will be totally ignored.
15987 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
15988 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
15989 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
15990 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
15991 something that's palatable for Gnus:
15994 @item prepare-body-function
15995 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
15996 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
15997 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
15999 @item article-transform-function
16000 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
16001 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
16002 body of the article.
16004 @item generate-head-function
16005 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
16006 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
16007 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
16008 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
16012 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
16017 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16018 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16019 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
16020 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
16021 (head-end . "^ ?$")
16022 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
16023 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
16024 (subtype digest guess))
16027 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
16028 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
16029 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
16030 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
16031 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
16033 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
16034 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
16035 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
16036 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
16037 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
16038 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
16039 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
16040 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
16041 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
16042 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
16050 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
16051 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
16052 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
16054 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
16055 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
16056 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
16059 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
16060 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
16061 that interested in doing things properly.
16063 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
16064 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
16067 First some terminology:
16072 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
16073 get news and/or mail from.
16076 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
16077 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
16080 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
16084 @item message packets
16085 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
16086 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
16087 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16089 @item response packets
16090 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
16091 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
16092 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16102 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
16103 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
16104 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
16105 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
16108 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
16111 You put the packet in your home directory.
16114 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
16115 the native or secondary server.
16118 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
16119 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
16122 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
16126 You transfer this packet to the server.
16129 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
16132 You then repeat until you die.
16136 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
16137 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
16140 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
16141 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
16142 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
16146 @node SOUP Commands
16147 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
16149 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
16153 @kindex G s b (Group)
16154 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
16155 Pack all unread articles in the current group
16156 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
16157 process/prefix convention.
16160 @kindex G s w (Group)
16161 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
16162 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
16165 @kindex G s s (Group)
16166 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
16167 Send all replies from the replies packet
16168 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
16171 @kindex G s p (Group)
16172 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
16173 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
16176 @kindex G s r (Group)
16177 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
16178 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
16181 @kindex O s (Summary)
16182 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
16183 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
16184 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
16185 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16190 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
16195 @item gnus-soup-directory
16196 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
16197 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
16198 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
16200 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
16201 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
16202 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
16203 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
16205 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
16206 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
16207 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
16208 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
16210 @item gnus-soup-packer
16211 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
16212 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16213 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
16215 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
16216 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
16217 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16218 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16220 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
16221 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
16222 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
16224 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16225 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16226 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
16227 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
16233 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
16236 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
16237 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
16238 you can read them at leisure.
16240 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
16244 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
16245 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
16246 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
16247 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
16249 @item nnsoup-directory
16250 @vindex nnsoup-directory
16251 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
16252 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
16254 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
16255 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
16256 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
16257 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
16259 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
16260 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
16261 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
16262 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
16263 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
16265 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
16266 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
16267 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
16268 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
16270 @item nnsoup-active-file
16271 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
16272 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
16273 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
16274 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
16275 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
16277 @item nnsoup-packer
16278 @vindex nnsoup-packer
16279 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
16280 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
16282 @item nnsoup-unpacker
16283 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
16284 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
16285 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16287 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
16288 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
16289 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
16292 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
16293 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
16294 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
16297 @item nnsoup-always-save
16298 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
16299 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
16305 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
16307 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
16308 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
16309 more for that to happen.
16311 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
16312 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
16313 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
16316 In specific, this is what it does:
16319 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
16320 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
16323 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
16324 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
16325 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
16328 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
16329 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
16330 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
16333 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
16334 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
16335 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
16337 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
16343 @item nngateway-address
16344 @vindex nngateway-address
16345 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
16347 @item nngateway-header-transformation
16348 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
16349 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
16350 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
16351 transformation should be called, and defaults to
16352 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
16353 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
16356 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
16357 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
16358 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
16361 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
16364 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
16367 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
16370 The following pre-defined functions exist:
16372 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16375 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16376 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16377 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
16379 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16381 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16382 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16383 @code{nngateway-address}.
16388 (setq gnus-post-method
16390 "mail2news@@replay.com"
16391 (nngateway-header-transformation
16392 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
16400 So, to use this, simply say something like:
16403 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
16408 @node Combined Groups
16409 @section Combined Groups
16411 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
16415 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
16416 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
16420 @node Virtual Groups
16421 @subsection Virtual Groups
16423 @cindex virtual groups
16424 @cindex merging groups
16426 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
16429 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
16430 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
16431 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
16433 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
16434 regexp to match component groups.
16436 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
16437 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
16438 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
16439 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
16440 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
16441 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
16442 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
16443 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
16445 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
16446 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
16449 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
16452 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
16453 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
16455 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
16456 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
16457 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
16458 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
16461 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
16464 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
16465 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
16466 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
16468 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
16469 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
16470 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
16471 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
16472 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
16474 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
16475 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
16476 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
16478 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
16479 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
16480 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
16481 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
16482 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
16483 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
16484 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
16485 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
16486 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
16487 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
16488 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
16490 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
16491 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
16492 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
16493 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
16494 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
16495 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
16496 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
16498 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
16499 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
16501 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
16502 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
16506 @node Kibozed Groups
16507 @subsection Kibozed Groups
16511 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
16512 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
16513 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
16514 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
16516 @kindex G k (Group)
16517 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
16520 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
16521 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
16522 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
16523 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
16525 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
16526 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
16527 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
16529 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
16530 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
16531 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
16532 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
16533 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
16534 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
16535 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
16536 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
16538 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
16539 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
16540 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
16541 Stranger things have happened.
16543 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
16544 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
16546 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
16547 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
16548 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
16549 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
16550 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
16551 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
16553 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
16554 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
16557 @node Gnus Unplugged
16558 @section Gnus Unplugged
16563 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
16565 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
16566 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
16567 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
16568 read news. Believe it or not.
16570 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
16571 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
16572 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
16573 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
16574 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
16576 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
16577 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
16578 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
16579 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
16580 reading news on a machine.
16582 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
16583 fact, you don't even have to configure anything.
16585 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
16588 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
16589 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
16590 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
16591 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
16592 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
16593 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
16594 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
16595 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
16596 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
16597 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
16598 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
16603 @subsection Agent Basics
16605 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
16607 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
16608 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
16609 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
16610 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
16612 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
16613 connected to the net continuously.
16615 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
16616 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
16618 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
16623 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
16624 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
16625 already fetched while in this mode.
16628 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
16629 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
16630 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
16631 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
16632 Source Specifiers}).
16635 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
16636 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
16637 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
16638 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
16639 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
16642 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
16643 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
16644 then you read the news offline.
16647 And then you go to step 2.
16650 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
16656 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
16657 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
16658 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
16659 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
16660 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
16661 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
16662 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} groups in @code{gnus-select-method} and
16663 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
16666 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
16673 @node Agent Categories
16674 @subsection Agent Categories
16676 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
16677 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
16678 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
16679 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
16680 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
16681 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
16682 you're interested in the articles anyway.
16684 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
16685 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
16686 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
16687 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
16688 managing categories.
16691 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
16692 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
16693 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
16697 @node Category Syntax
16698 @subsubsection Category Syntax
16700 A category consists of two things.
16704 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
16705 are eligible for downloading; and
16708 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
16709 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
16710 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
16713 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
16714 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
16715 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
16716 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
16718 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
16719 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
16720 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
16722 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
16723 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
16724 operators sprinkled in between.
16726 Perhaps some examples are in order.
16728 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
16729 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
16735 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
16736 short (for some value of ``short'').
16738 Here's a more complex predicate:
16747 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
16748 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
16751 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
16752 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
16753 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
16755 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
16756 you want to do, you can write your own.
16760 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
16761 lines; default 100.
16764 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
16765 lines; default 200.
16768 True iff the article has a download score less than
16769 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
16772 True iff the article has a download score greater than
16773 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
16776 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
16777 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
16778 checksum and sees whether articles match.
16787 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
16788 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
16789 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
16792 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
16793 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
16794 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
16795 something along the lines of the following:
16798 (defun my-article-old-p ()
16799 "Say whether an article is old."
16800 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
16801 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
16804 with the predicate then defined as:
16807 (not my-article-old-p)
16810 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
16811 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
16815 (require 'gnus-agent)
16816 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
16817 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
16818 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
16821 and simply specify your predicate as:
16827 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
16828 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
16829 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
16830 just don't give a damn.
16832 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
16833 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
16834 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
16835 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
16836 parameters like so:
16839 (agent-predicate . short)
16842 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
16843 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
16844 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
16846 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
16849 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
16852 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
16853 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
16854 predicate is assumed to be a list.
16857 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
16858 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
16859 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
16860 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
16861 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
16862 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
16864 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
16865 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
16866 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
16867 if it's to be specific to that group.
16869 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
16876 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
16877 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
16883 Category specification
16887 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16893 Group Parameter specification
16896 (agent-score ("from"
16897 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16902 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
16908 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
16915 Category specification
16918 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
16924 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
16928 Group Parameter specification
16931 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
16934 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
16939 Use @code{normal} score files
16941 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
16942 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
16943 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
16944 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
16946 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
16947 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
16948 files for a group, *filtering out* those sections that do not
16949 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
16953 Category Specification
16960 Group Parameter specification
16963 (agent-score . file)
16968 @node Category Buffer
16969 @subsubsection Category Buffer
16971 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
16972 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
16973 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
16975 The following commands are available in this buffer:
16979 @kindex q (Category)
16980 @findex gnus-category-exit
16981 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
16984 @kindex k (Category)
16985 @findex gnus-category-kill
16986 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
16989 @kindex c (Category)
16990 @findex gnus-category-copy
16991 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
16994 @kindex a (Category)
16995 @findex gnus-category-add
16996 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
16999 @kindex p (Category)
17000 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
17001 Edit the predicate of the current category
17002 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
17005 @kindex g (Category)
17006 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
17007 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
17008 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
17011 @kindex s (Category)
17012 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
17013 Edit the download score rule of the current category
17014 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
17017 @kindex l (Category)
17018 @findex gnus-category-list
17019 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
17023 @node Category Variables
17024 @subsubsection Category Variables
17027 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
17028 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
17029 Hook run in category buffers.
17031 @item gnus-category-line-format
17032 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
17033 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
17034 Variables}). Valid elements are:
17038 The name of the category.
17041 The number of groups in the category.
17044 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
17045 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
17046 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
17048 @item gnus-agent-short-article
17049 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
17050 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
17052 @item gnus-agent-long-article
17053 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
17054 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
17056 @item gnus-agent-low-score
17057 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
17058 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
17061 @item gnus-agent-high-score
17062 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
17063 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
17069 @node Agent Commands
17070 @subsection Agent Commands
17072 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
17073 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
17074 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
17078 * Group Agent Commands::
17079 * Summary Agent Commands::
17080 * Server Agent Commands::
17086 @node Group Agent Commands
17087 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
17091 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
17092 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
17093 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
17094 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
17097 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
17098 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
17099 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
17102 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
17103 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
17104 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
17105 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
17108 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
17109 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
17110 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
17111 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
17114 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
17115 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
17116 Add the current group to an Agent category
17117 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
17118 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17121 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
17122 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
17123 Remove the current group from its category, if any
17124 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
17125 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17128 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
17129 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17130 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
17136 @node Summary Agent Commands
17137 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
17141 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
17142 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
17143 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
17146 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
17147 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
17148 Remove the downloading mark from the article
17149 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
17153 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
17154 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
17155 Toggle whether to download the article
17156 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The dowload mark is @samp{%} by
17160 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
17161 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
17162 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
17165 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
17166 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
17167 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
17168 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
17173 @node Server Agent Commands
17174 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
17178 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
17179 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
17180 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
17181 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
17184 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
17185 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
17186 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
17187 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
17192 @node Agent as Cache
17193 @subsection Agent as Cache
17195 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
17196 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
17197 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
17198 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
17199 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
17200 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
17201 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
17202 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
17203 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
17205 This behaviour can be controlled by @code{gnus-agent-cache}
17206 (@pxref{Agent Variables}).
17209 @subsection Agent Expiry
17211 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
17212 @findex gnus-agent-expire
17213 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
17214 @cindex Agent expiry
17215 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
17218 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
17219 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
17220 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
17221 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
17222 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
17223 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
17225 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} can also be a list of regexp/day pairs.
17226 The regexps will be matched against group names to allow differing
17227 expiry in different groups.
17230 (setq gnus-agent-expire-days
17236 If you use the list form, the last element must always be the default
17237 method---it must always match all groups.
17239 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
17240 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
17241 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
17242 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
17243 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
17245 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
17246 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
17247 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's a special
17248 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} command to fix possible problems.
17250 @node Agent and IMAP
17251 @subsection Agent and IMAP
17253 The Agent work with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
17254 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
17255 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
17256 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
17258 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
17259 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @code{.newsrc} as is the
17260 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
17261 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
17263 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
17264 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
17265 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
17266 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
17268 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17269 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
17270 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
17271 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
17272 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
17273 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
17275 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
17276 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
17277 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
17278 in the group buffer.
17280 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
17281 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
17286 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
17289 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
17293 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by "pushing"
17294 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
17295 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
17296 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
17297 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
17298 removed from the server when you "synchronize". The queued flag
17299 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
17300 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
17303 @node Outgoing Messages
17304 @subsection Outgoing Messages
17306 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
17307 stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view
17308 them there after posting, and edit them at will.
17310 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
17311 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
17312 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
17313 messages in the draft group.
17317 @node Agent Variables
17318 @subsection Agent Variables
17321 @item gnus-agent-directory
17322 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
17323 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
17324 @file{~/News/agent/}.
17326 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
17327 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
17328 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
17329 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
17330 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
17333 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
17334 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
17335 Hook run when connecting to the network.
17337 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
17338 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
17339 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
17341 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
17342 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
17343 Hook run when after finishing fetching articles.
17345 @item gnus-agent-cache
17346 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
17347 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @sc{nov} and
17348 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
17349 The default is non-nil, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
17351 @item gnus-agent-go-online
17352 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
17353 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
17354 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
17355 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
17356 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
17357 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
17360 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
17361 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
17362 Perhaps not a Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
17363 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
17364 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
17365 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
17366 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
17367 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
17368 is only valid if the Agent is used.
17373 @node Example Setup
17374 @subsection Example Setup
17376 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
17377 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
17378 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
17381 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
17382 ;;; from your ISP's server.
17383 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
17385 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
17386 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
17387 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
17389 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
17390 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
17392 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
17393 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; The obsolete setting.
17394 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; Now the default.
17397 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
17398 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
17401 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
17402 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
17403 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
17404 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
17405 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
17408 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
17409 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
17410 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
17411 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
17412 back all the killed groups.)
17414 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
17415 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
17416 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
17419 @node Batching Agents
17420 @subsection Batching Agents
17422 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
17423 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
17424 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
17426 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
17427 following incantation:
17431 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f -l ~/.gnus.el gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
17435 @node Agent Caveats
17436 @subsection Agent Caveats
17438 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
17439 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
17443 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
17445 @strong{No}. If you want this behaviour, add
17446 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
17447 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
17449 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
17451 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is `nil'.
17455 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
17456 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP and also uses the
17457 locally stored articles.
17464 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
17465 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
17466 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
17469 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
17470 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
17471 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
17472 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
17473 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
17475 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
17476 before generating the summary buffer.
17478 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
17479 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
17480 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
17482 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
17483 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
17484 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
17485 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
17488 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
17489 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
17490 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
17491 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
17492 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
17493 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
17494 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
17495 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
17496 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
17497 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
17498 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
17499 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
17500 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
17501 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
17502 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
17503 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
17504 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
17508 @node Summary Score Commands
17509 @section Summary Score Commands
17510 @cindex score commands
17512 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
17513 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
17514 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
17515 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
17516 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
17518 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
17519 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
17520 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
17521 score file the current one.
17523 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
17528 @kindex V s (Summary)
17529 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
17530 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
17533 @kindex V S (Summary)
17534 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
17535 Display the score of the current article
17536 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
17539 @kindex V t (Summary)
17540 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
17541 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
17542 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
17545 @kindex V w (Summary)
17546 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
17547 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
17550 @kindex V R (Summary)
17551 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
17552 Run the current summary through the scoring process
17553 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
17554 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
17555 effect you're having.
17558 @kindex V c (Summary)
17559 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
17560 Make a different score file the current
17561 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
17564 @kindex V e (Summary)
17565 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
17566 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
17567 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
17571 @kindex V f (Summary)
17572 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
17573 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
17574 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
17577 @kindex V F (Summary)
17578 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
17579 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
17580 after editing score files.
17583 @kindex V C (Summary)
17584 @findex gnus-score-customize
17585 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
17586 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
17590 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
17595 @kindex V m (Summary)
17596 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
17597 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
17598 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
17601 @kindex V x (Summary)
17602 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
17603 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
17604 expunge all articles below this score
17605 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
17608 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
17609 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
17612 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
17613 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
17617 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
17618 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
17620 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
17621 keys are available:
17625 Score on the author name.
17628 Score on the subject line.
17631 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
17634 Score on the @code{References} line.
17640 Score on the number of lines.
17643 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
17646 Score on an "extra" header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
17647 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
17650 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
17651 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
17652 @file{ADAPT} files.)
17661 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
17667 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
17668 what headers you are scoring on.
17680 Substring matching.
17683 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
17712 Greater than number.
17717 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
17718 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
17719 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
17724 Temporary score entry.
17727 Permanent score entry.
17730 Immediately scoring.
17734 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
17735 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
17736 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
17740 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
17741 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
17742 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
17743 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
17745 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
17746 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
17747 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
17748 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
17749 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
17751 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
17752 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
17753 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
17754 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
17755 current score file.
17757 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
17758 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
17759 pretend they are keymaps or not.
17762 @node Group Score Commands
17763 @section Group Score Commands
17764 @cindex group score commands
17766 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
17771 @kindex W f (Group)
17772 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
17773 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
17774 all the time. This command will flush the cache
17775 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
17779 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
17781 @findex gnus-batch-score
17782 @cindex batch scoring
17784 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
17788 @node Score Variables
17789 @section Score Variables
17790 @cindex score variables
17794 @item gnus-use-scoring
17795 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
17796 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
17797 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
17799 @item gnus-kill-killed
17800 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
17801 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
17802 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
17803 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
17804 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
17805 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
17806 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
17808 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
17809 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
17810 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
17811 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
17812 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
17814 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
17815 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
17816 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
17817 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
17819 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
17820 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
17821 @cindex score cache
17822 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
17823 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
17824 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
17825 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
17826 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
17827 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
17830 @item gnus-save-score
17831 @vindex gnus-save-score
17832 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
17833 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
17834 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
17836 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
17837 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
17838 across group visits.
17840 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
17841 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
17842 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
17843 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
17844 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
17845 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
17846 manually entered data.
17848 @item gnus-summary-default-score
17849 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
17850 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
17852 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
17853 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
17854 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
17855 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
17856 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
17857 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
17859 @item gnus-score-over-mark
17860 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
17861 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
17862 default. Default is @samp{+}.
17864 @item gnus-score-below-mark
17865 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
17866 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
17867 default. Default is @samp{-}.
17869 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
17870 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
17871 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
17872 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
17874 Predefined functions available are:
17877 @item gnus-score-find-single
17878 @findex gnus-score-find-single
17879 Only apply the group's own score file.
17881 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
17882 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
17883 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
17884 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
17885 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
17886 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
17887 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
17888 then a regexp match is done.
17890 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
17891 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
17893 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
17894 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
17895 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
17896 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
17898 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
17899 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
17900 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
17901 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
17902 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
17906 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
17907 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
17908 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
17909 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
17910 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
17911 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
17912 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
17915 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
17916 overall score file, you could use the value
17918 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
17919 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
17922 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
17923 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
17924 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
17925 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
17926 are expired. It's 7 by default.
17928 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
17929 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
17930 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
17931 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
17932 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
17933 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
17934 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
17935 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
17937 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
17938 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
17939 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
17941 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
17942 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
17943 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
17944 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
17945 threading---according to the current value of
17946 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
17947 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
17948 simplified in this manner.
17953 @node Score File Format
17954 @section Score File Format
17955 @cindex score file format
17957 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
17958 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
17959 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
17961 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
17965 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
17967 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
17969 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
17971 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
17976 (mark-and-expunge -10)
17980 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
17981 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
17982 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
17983 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
17987 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
17988 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
17990 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
17991 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
17992 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
17994 Six keys are supported by this alist:
17999 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
18000 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
18001 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
18002 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
18003 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
18004 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
18005 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
18006 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
18007 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
18008 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
18009 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
18010 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
18011 to articles that matches these score entries.
18013 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
18014 score entry has one to four elements.
18018 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
18019 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
18023 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
18024 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
18025 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
18026 is successful. If this element is not present, the
18027 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
18028 instead. This is 1000 by default.
18031 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
18032 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
18033 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
18034 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
18035 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
18038 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
18039 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
18040 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
18041 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
18044 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
18045 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
18046 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
18047 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
18048 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
18049 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
18050 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
18051 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
18052 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
18053 instead, if you feel like.
18056 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
18057 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
18058 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
18059 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
18060 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin host,
18061 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks NNTP-Posting-Host in overviews:
18064 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s "NNTP-Posting-Host")
18068 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
18069 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
18071 These predicates are true if
18074 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
18077 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
18078 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
18085 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
18086 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
18087 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
18088 it's not. I think.)
18090 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
18091 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
18092 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
18093 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
18096 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
18097 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
18098 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
18099 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
18100 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
18101 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
18102 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
18106 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
18107 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
18108 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
18109 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
18110 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
18111 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
18112 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
18113 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
18116 @item Head, Body, All
18117 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
18121 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
18122 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
18123 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
18124 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
18125 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
18126 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
18127 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
18131 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
18132 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
18133 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
18134 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
18135 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
18136 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
18137 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
18138 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
18139 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
18140 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
18141 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
18145 @cindex Score File Atoms
18147 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18148 lower than this number will be marked as read.
18151 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18152 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
18154 @item mark-and-expunge
18155 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
18156 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
18159 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
18160 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
18161 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
18162 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
18163 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
18166 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
18167 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
18170 @item exclude-files
18171 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
18172 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
18176 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
18177 ignored when handling global score files.
18180 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
18181 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
18182 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
18183 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
18186 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
18187 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
18188 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
18189 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
18191 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
18195 (mark-and-expunge -100)
18198 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
18199 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
18200 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
18201 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
18202 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
18204 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
18205 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
18206 scoring rules exist.
18209 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
18210 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
18211 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
18212 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
18213 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
18214 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
18215 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
18216 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
18217 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
18218 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
18219 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
18223 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
18224 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
18225 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
18226 file for a number of groups.
18229 @cindex local variables
18230 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
18231 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
18232 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
18233 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
18234 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
18238 @node Score File Editing
18239 @section Score File Editing
18241 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
18242 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
18243 with a mode for that.
18245 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
18246 additional commands:
18251 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
18252 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
18253 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
18254 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
18257 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
18258 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
18259 Insert the current date in numerical format
18260 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
18261 you were wondering.
18264 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
18265 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
18266 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
18267 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
18268 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
18273 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
18275 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
18276 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
18278 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
18279 e} to begin editing score files.
18282 @node Adaptive Scoring
18283 @section Adaptive Scoring
18284 @cindex adaptive scoring
18286 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
18287 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
18288 stupidity, to be precise.
18290 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
18291 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
18292 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
18293 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
18294 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
18295 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
18296 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
18297 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
18298 variable to @code{(word line)}.
18300 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
18301 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
18302 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
18303 might look something like this:
18306 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
18307 '((gnus-unread-mark)
18308 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
18309 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
18310 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
18311 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
18312 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
18313 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
18314 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
18315 (gnus-ancient-mark)
18316 (gnus-low-score-mark)
18317 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
18320 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
18321 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
18322 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
18323 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
18324 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
18325 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
18328 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
18329 will be applied to each article.
18331 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
18332 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
18333 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
18334 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
18336 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
18337 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
18338 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
18339 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
18341 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
18342 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
18343 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
18344 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
18346 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
18347 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
18348 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
18349 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
18350 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
18351 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
18353 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
18354 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
18355 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
18357 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
18358 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
18359 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
18361 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
18362 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
18363 let you use different rules in different groups.
18365 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
18366 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
18367 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
18370 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
18371 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
18372 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
18373 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
18374 the length of the match is less than
18375 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
18376 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
18379 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18380 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
18381 headers. If you adapt on words, the
18382 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
18383 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
18386 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18387 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
18388 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
18389 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
18390 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
18393 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
18394 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
18395 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
18396 score with 30 points.
18398 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
18399 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
18400 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
18401 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
18402 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
18404 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
18405 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
18406 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
18407 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
18408 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
18410 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
18411 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
18412 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
18413 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
18415 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
18416 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
18417 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
18418 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
18420 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
18421 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
18422 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
18423 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
18424 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
18426 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
18427 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
18428 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
18430 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
18431 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
18432 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
18433 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
18436 @node Home Score File
18437 @section Home Score File
18439 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
18440 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
18441 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
18442 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
18444 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
18445 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
18446 could perhaps use the same home score file.
18448 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
18449 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
18454 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
18458 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
18459 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
18463 A list. The elements in this list can be:
18467 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
18468 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
18471 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
18472 the home score file.
18475 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
18478 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
18483 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
18486 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18487 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
18490 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
18491 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
18493 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
18495 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18496 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
18499 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
18500 Other functions include
18503 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
18504 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
18505 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
18506 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
18510 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
18511 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
18512 their own home score files:
18515 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18516 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
18517 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
18518 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
18519 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
18522 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
18523 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
18524 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
18525 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
18526 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
18528 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
18529 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
18530 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
18531 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
18532 precedence over this variable.
18535 @node Followups To Yourself
18536 @section Followups To Yourself
18538 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
18539 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
18540 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
18541 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
18542 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
18543 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
18547 @item gnus-score-followup-article
18548 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
18549 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
18552 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
18553 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
18554 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
18558 @vindex message-sent-hook
18559 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
18560 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
18562 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
18566 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
18567 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
18571 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18572 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18575 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
18576 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
18581 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
18585 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
18586 is system-dependent.
18589 @node Scoring On Other Headers
18590 @section Scoring On Other Headers
18591 @cindex scoring on other headers
18593 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
18594 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
18595 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
18596 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
18597 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
18599 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
18600 mail groups, you have greater control. In the @pxref{To From
18601 Newsgroups} section of the manual, it's explained in greater detail what
18602 this mechanism does, but here's a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on
18603 how to allow scoring on the @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
18605 Put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
18608 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
18609 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
18612 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
18613 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
18614 time if you have much mail.
18616 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
18617 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
18623 @section Scoring Tips
18624 @cindex scoring tips
18630 @cindex scoring crossposts
18631 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
18632 the @code{Xref} header.
18634 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
18637 @item Multiple crossposts
18638 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
18639 more than, say, 3 groups:
18642 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
18646 @item Matching on the body
18647 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
18648 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
18649 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
18650 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
18651 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
18652 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
18653 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
18656 @item Marking as read
18657 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
18658 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
18659 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
18663 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
18665 @item Negated character classes
18666 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
18667 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
18668 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
18672 @node Reverse Scoring
18673 @section Reverse Scoring
18674 @cindex reverse scoring
18676 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
18677 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
18678 like this in your score file:
18682 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
18687 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
18688 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
18691 @node Global Score Files
18692 @section Global Score Files
18693 @cindex global score files
18695 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
18696 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
18697 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
18699 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
18700 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
18701 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
18703 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
18704 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
18705 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
18706 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
18707 files are applicable to which group.
18709 To use the score file
18710 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
18711 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
18715 (setq gnus-global-score-files
18716 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
18717 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
18720 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
18722 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
18723 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
18724 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
18725 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
18727 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
18728 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
18730 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
18731 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
18732 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
18733 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
18734 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
18735 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
18737 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
18743 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
18745 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
18747 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
18749 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
18750 lowered out of existence.
18752 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
18753 articles completely.
18756 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
18757 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
18758 old articles for a long time.
18761 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
18762 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
18763 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
18764 holding our breath yet?
18768 @section Kill Files
18771 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
18772 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
18773 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
18775 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
18776 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
18777 files into score files.
18779 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
18780 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
18781 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
18782 that isn't a very good idea.
18784 Normal kill files look like this:
18787 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18788 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
18792 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
18793 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
18795 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
18796 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
18799 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
18804 @kindex M-k (Summary)
18805 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
18806 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
18809 @kindex M-K (Summary)
18810 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
18811 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
18814 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
18819 @kindex M-k (Group)
18820 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
18821 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
18824 @kindex M-K (Group)
18825 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
18826 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
18829 Kill file variables:
18832 @item gnus-kill-file-name
18833 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
18834 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
18835 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
18836 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
18837 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
18838 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
18840 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
18841 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
18842 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
18843 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
18846 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
18847 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
18848 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
18849 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
18850 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
18851 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
18852 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
18853 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
18854 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
18856 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
18857 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
18858 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
18863 @node Converting Kill Files
18864 @section Converting Kill Files
18866 @cindex converting kill files
18868 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
18869 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
18870 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
18873 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
18874 You can fetch it from
18875 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
18877 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
18878 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
18879 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
18887 GroupLens (@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/}) is a
18888 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
18889 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
18890 news articles generated every day.
18892 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
18893 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
18894 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
18895 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
18896 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
18897 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
18898 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
18899 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
18902 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
18903 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
18906 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
18907 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
18908 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
18909 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
18913 @node Using GroupLens
18914 @subsection Using GroupLens
18916 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
18918 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
18919 better bit in town at the moment.
18921 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
18925 @item gnus-use-grouplens
18926 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
18927 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
18928 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
18930 @item grouplens-pseudonym
18931 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
18932 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
18933 with the Better Bit Bureau.
18935 @item grouplens-newsgroups
18936 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
18937 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
18941 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
18942 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
18943 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
18944 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
18945 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
18946 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
18949 @node Rating Articles
18950 @subsection Rating Articles
18952 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
18953 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
18954 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
18955 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
18958 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
18963 @kindex r (GroupLens)
18964 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
18965 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
18968 @kindex k (GroupLens)
18969 @findex grouplens-score-thread
18970 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
18971 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
18972 threads in rec.humor.
18976 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
18977 the score of the article you're reading.
18982 @kindex n (GroupLens)
18983 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
18984 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
18987 @kindex , (GroupLens)
18988 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
18989 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
18993 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
18994 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
18997 @node Displaying Predictions
18998 @subsection Displaying Predictions
19000 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
19001 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
19002 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
19003 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
19004 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
19006 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
19007 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
19008 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
19009 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
19010 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
19011 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
19012 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
19013 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
19014 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
19015 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
19016 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
19017 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
19018 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
19020 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
19021 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
19022 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
19023 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
19025 The following are valid values for that variable.
19028 @item prediction-spot
19029 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
19032 @item confidence-interval
19033 A numeric confidence interval.
19035 @item prediction-bar
19036 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
19038 @item confidence-bar
19039 Numerical confidence.
19041 @item confidence-spot
19042 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
19044 @item prediction-num
19045 Plain-old numeric value.
19047 @item confidence-plus-minus
19048 Prediction +/- confidence.
19053 @node GroupLens Variables
19054 @subsection GroupLens Variables
19058 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
19059 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
19060 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
19061 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
19064 @item grouplens-bbb-host
19065 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
19068 @item grouplens-bbb-port
19069 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
19071 @item grouplens-score-offset
19072 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
19073 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
19076 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
19077 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
19078 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
19083 @node Advanced Scoring
19084 @section Advanced Scoring
19086 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
19087 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
19088 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
19089 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
19090 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
19092 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
19096 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
19097 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
19098 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
19102 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
19103 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
19105 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
19106 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
19107 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
19108 non-@code{nil} value.
19110 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
19111 operator, and various match operators.
19118 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
19119 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
19120 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
19125 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
19126 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
19127 then this operator will return @code{false}.
19132 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
19133 logical negation of the value of its argument.
19137 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
19138 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
19139 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
19140 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
19141 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
19142 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
19143 the ancestry you want to go.
19145 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
19146 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
19147 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
19148 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
19149 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
19152 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
19153 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
19155 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
19156 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
19159 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
19160 when he's talking about Gnus:
19164 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19165 ("subject" "Gnus"))
19171 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
19175 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19182 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
19183 really don't want to read what he's written:
19187 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19188 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
19192 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
19193 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
19194 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
19201 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
19202 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
19203 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
19204 ("body" "white.*socks"))
19208 The possibilities are endless.
19211 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
19212 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
19214 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
19215 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
19216 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
19217 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
19218 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
19219 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
19220 @samp{subject}) first.
19222 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
19223 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
19234 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
19235 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
19241 ("subject" "Gnus")))
19248 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
19249 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
19254 @section Score Decays
19255 @cindex score decays
19258 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
19259 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
19260 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
19261 use them in any sensible way.
19263 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
19264 @findex gnus-decay-score
19265 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
19266 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
19267 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
19268 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
19269 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
19270 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
19271 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
19272 definition of that function:
19275 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
19277 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
19278 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
19281 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
19283 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
19285 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
19288 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
19289 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
19290 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
19291 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
19295 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
19298 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
19301 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
19305 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
19306 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
19307 the new score, which should be an integer.
19309 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
19310 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
19315 @include message.texi
19316 @chapter Emacs MIME
19317 @include emacs-mime.texi
19319 @include sieve.texi
19321 @c @include pgg.texi
19329 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
19330 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
19331 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
19332 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
19333 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
19334 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
19335 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
19336 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
19337 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
19338 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
19339 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
19340 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
19341 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
19342 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
19343 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
19344 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
19345 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
19346 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
19347 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
19351 @node Process/Prefix
19352 @section Process/Prefix
19353 @cindex process/prefix convention
19355 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
19356 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
19358 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
19359 command to be performed on.
19363 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
19364 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
19365 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
19366 with the current one.
19368 @vindex transient-mark-mode
19369 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
19370 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
19372 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
19373 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
19376 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
19377 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
19379 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
19382 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
19383 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
19384 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
19385 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
19387 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
19388 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
19389 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
19390 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
19391 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
19392 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
19393 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
19394 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
19396 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
19397 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
19398 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
19399 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
19400 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
19404 @section Interactive
19405 @cindex interaction
19409 @item gnus-novice-user
19410 @vindex gnus-novice-user
19411 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
19412 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
19413 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
19414 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
19417 @item gnus-expert-user
19418 @vindex gnus-expert-user
19419 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
19420 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
19421 matter how strange.
19423 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
19424 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
19425 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
19426 is @code{t} by default.
19428 @item gnus-interactive-exit
19429 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
19430 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
19435 @node Symbolic Prefixes
19436 @section Symbolic Prefixes
19437 @cindex symbolic prefixes
19439 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
19440 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
19441 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
19442 rule of 900 to the current article.
19444 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
19445 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
19446 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
19447 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
19448 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
19449 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
19450 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
19452 @kindex M-i (Summary)
19453 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
19454 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
19455 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
19456 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
19457 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
19458 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
19459 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
19460 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
19462 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
19463 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
19464 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
19466 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
19470 @node Formatting Variables
19471 @section Formatting Variables
19472 @cindex formatting variables
19474 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
19475 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
19476 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
19477 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
19478 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
19481 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
19482 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
19483 lots of percentages everywhere.
19486 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
19487 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
19488 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
19489 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
19490 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
19491 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
19492 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
19493 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
19496 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
19497 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
19498 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
19499 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
19500 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
19501 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
19502 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
19503 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
19505 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
19506 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
19508 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
19509 @findex gnus-update-format
19510 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
19511 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
19512 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
19513 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
19517 @node Formatting Basics
19518 @subsection Formatting Basics
19520 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
19521 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
19522 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
19524 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
19525 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
19526 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
19527 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
19528 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
19531 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
19532 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
19533 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
19534 less than 4 characters wide.
19536 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
19537 @samp{%&user-date;}.
19540 @node Mode Line Formatting
19541 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
19543 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
19544 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
19545 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
19546 with the following two differences:
19551 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
19554 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
19555 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
19556 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
19557 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
19558 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
19559 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
19560 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
19565 @node Advanced Formatting
19566 @subsection Advanced Formatting
19568 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
19569 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
19570 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
19571 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
19573 These are the valid modifiers:
19578 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
19582 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
19587 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
19590 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
19595 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
19598 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
19601 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
19604 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
19610 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
19615 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
19616 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
19617 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
19618 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
19619 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
19620 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
19621 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
19623 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
19624 last operation, padding.
19626 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
19627 If @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} is set to @code{nil} (@code{t} by
19628 default) with your strong personality, and use a lots of these advanced
19629 thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets quite slow. This can be helped
19630 enormously by running @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with
19631 the look of your lines.
19632 @xref{Compilation}.
19635 @node User-Defined Specs
19636 @subsection User-Defined Specs
19638 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
19639 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
19640 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
19641 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
19642 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
19643 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
19644 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
19645 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
19646 should protect against that.
19648 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
19649 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
19651 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
19652 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
19653 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
19654 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
19658 @node Formatting Fonts
19659 @subsection Formatting Fonts
19661 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
19662 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
19663 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
19664 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
19667 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
19668 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
19669 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
19670 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
19671 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
19672 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
19674 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
19675 special @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}.
19676 If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on.
19677 The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or
19678 symbols naming functions that return a string. When the mouse passes
19679 over text with this property set, a balloon window will appear and
19680 display the string. Please refer to @ref{(emacs)Help Echo} (in GNU
19681 Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in XEmacs) for
19682 more information on this. (For technical reasons, the guillemets have
19683 been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this paragraph.)
19685 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
19688 ;; Create three face types.
19689 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
19690 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
19692 ;; We want the article count to be in
19693 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
19694 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
19695 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
19697 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
19698 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
19700 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
19701 (setq gnus-group-line-format
19702 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
19705 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
19706 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
19708 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
19709 mode-line variables.
19711 @node Positioning Point
19712 @subsection Positioning Point
19714 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
19715 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
19716 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
19718 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
19720 @findex gnus-goto-colon
19721 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
19722 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
19724 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
19725 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
19726 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
19731 @subsection Tabulation
19733 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
19734 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
19735 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
19736 about lining up the following text afterwards.
19738 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs--@samp{%=}. There are two
19739 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
19741 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
19742 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
19743 This is the soft tabulator.
19745 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
19746 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
19747 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
19750 @node Wide Characters
19751 @subsection Wide Characters
19753 Proportional fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
19754 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
19755 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
19757 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
19758 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
19759 these countries, that's not true.
19761 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
19762 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
19763 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
19764 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
19768 @node Window Layout
19769 @section Window Layout
19770 @cindex window layout
19772 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
19774 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
19775 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
19776 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
19777 @code{t} by default.
19779 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
19780 glitches. Use at your own peril.
19782 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
19783 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
19784 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
19787 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
19788 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
19789 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
19793 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
19794 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
19795 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
19796 possible names is listed below.
19798 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
19799 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
19802 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
19806 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
19807 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
19808 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
19809 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
19810 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
19811 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
19812 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
19813 size spec per split.
19815 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
19816 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
19817 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
19818 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
19819 present) gets focus.
19821 Here's a more complicated example:
19824 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
19825 (summary 0.25 point)
19826 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
19830 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
19831 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
19832 occupy, not a percentage.
19834 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
19835 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
19836 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
19837 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
19838 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
19841 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
19844 (article (horizontal 1.0
19849 (summary 0.25 point)
19854 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
19855 @code{horizontal} thingie?
19857 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
19858 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
19859 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
19860 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
19861 the screen is to be given to this strip.
19863 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
19864 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
19865 lines from the splits.
19867 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
19871 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
19872 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
19873 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
19874 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
19875 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
19876 size = number | frame-params
19877 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
19880 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
19881 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
19882 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
19883 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
19885 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
19886 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
19887 @cindex window height
19888 @cindex window width
19889 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
19890 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
19891 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
19892 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
19893 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
19894 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
19896 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
19897 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
19898 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
19899 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
19901 @findex gnus-configure-frame
19902 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
19903 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
19904 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
19905 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
19906 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
19907 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
19908 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
19909 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
19910 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
19911 configuration list.
19914 (gnus-configure-frame
19918 (article 0.3 point))
19926 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
19927 @code{frame} split:
19930 (gnus-configure-frame
19933 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
19935 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
19936 (user-position . t)
19937 (left . -1) (top . 1))
19942 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
19943 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
19944 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
19945 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
19946 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
19947 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
19948 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
19949 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
19951 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
19952 be found in its default value.
19954 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
19955 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
19956 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
19960 (message (horizontal 1.0
19961 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
19963 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
19968 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
19969 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
19970 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
19975 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
19976 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
19977 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
19978 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
19979 (name . "Message"))
19980 (message 1.0 point))))
19983 @findex gnus-add-configuration
19984 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
19985 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
19986 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
19987 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
19990 (gnus-add-configuration
19991 '(article (vertical 1.0
19993 (summary .25 point)
19997 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
19998 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
19999 Gnus has been loaded.
20001 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
20002 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
20003 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
20004 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
20005 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
20007 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
20008 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
20009 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
20012 @subsection Example Window Configurations
20016 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
20017 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
20032 (gnus-add-configuration
20035 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
20037 (summary 0.16 point)
20040 (gnus-add-configuration
20043 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
20044 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
20050 @node Faces and Fonts
20051 @section Faces and Fonts
20056 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
20057 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
20058 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
20063 @section Compilation
20064 @cindex compilation
20065 @cindex byte-compilation
20067 @findex gnus-compile
20069 Remember all those line format specification variables?
20070 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
20071 on. By default, T-gnus will use the byte-compiled codes of these
20072 variables and we can keep a slow-down to a minimum. However, if you set
20073 @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} to @code{nil} (@code{t} by default),
20074 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
20075 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
20076 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
20079 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
20080 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
20081 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
20082 you'll get top speed again. Note that T-gnus will not save these
20083 compiled specs in the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
20086 @item gnus-compile-user-specs
20087 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
20088 If it is non-nil, the user-defined format specs will be byte-compiled
20089 automatically. The default value of this variable is @code{t}. It has
20090 an effect on the values of @code{gnus-*-line-format-spec}.
20095 @section Mode Lines
20098 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
20099 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
20100 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
20101 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
20102 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
20103 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
20104 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
20107 @cindex display-time
20109 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
20110 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
20111 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
20112 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
20113 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
20114 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
20115 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
20116 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
20119 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
20121 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
20122 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
20124 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
20125 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
20126 (length display-time-string)))))
20129 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
20130 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
20131 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
20132 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
20133 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
20136 @node Highlighting and Menus
20137 @section Highlighting and Menus
20139 @cindex highlighting
20142 @vindex gnus-visual
20143 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
20144 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
20145 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
20148 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
20149 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
20152 @item group-highlight
20153 Do highlights in the group buffer.
20154 @item summary-highlight
20155 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
20156 @item article-highlight
20157 Do highlights in the article buffer.
20159 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
20161 Create menus in the group buffer.
20163 Create menus in the summary buffers.
20165 Create menus in the article buffer.
20167 Create menus in the browse buffer.
20169 Create menus in the server buffer.
20171 Create menus in the score buffers.
20173 Create menus in all buffers.
20176 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
20177 buffers, you could say something like:
20180 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
20183 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
20186 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
20189 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
20190 in all Gnus buffers.
20192 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
20195 @item gnus-mouse-face
20196 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
20197 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
20198 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
20202 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
20206 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
20207 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
20208 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
20210 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
20211 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
20212 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
20214 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
20215 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
20216 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
20218 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
20219 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
20220 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
20222 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
20223 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
20224 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
20226 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
20227 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
20228 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
20239 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
20240 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
20241 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
20242 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
20243 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
20247 @vindex gnus-carpal
20248 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
20249 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
20250 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
20255 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
20256 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
20257 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
20259 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
20260 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
20261 Face used on buttons.
20263 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
20264 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
20265 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
20267 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
20268 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
20269 Buttons in the group buffer.
20271 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
20272 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
20273 Buttons in the summary buffer.
20275 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
20276 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
20277 Buttons in the server buffer.
20279 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
20280 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
20281 Buttons in the browse buffer.
20284 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
20285 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
20286 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
20294 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
20295 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
20296 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
20297 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
20298 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
20300 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
20301 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
20302 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
20304 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
20305 been idle for thirty minutes:
20308 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
20311 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
20315 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
20318 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
20319 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
20320 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
20322 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
20323 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
20324 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
20325 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
20327 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
20328 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
20329 @var{idle} minutes.
20331 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
20332 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
20335 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
20336 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
20337 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
20339 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
20340 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
20341 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
20342 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
20344 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
20345 your @file{.gnus.el} file:
20347 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
20349 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
20352 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
20353 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
20354 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
20355 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
20356 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
20357 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
20358 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
20359 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
20360 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
20361 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
20362 @file{.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
20364 @findex gnus-demon-init
20365 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
20366 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
20367 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
20368 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
20369 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
20371 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
20372 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
20373 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
20382 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
20383 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
20385 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
20386 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
20387 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
20388 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
20391 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
20392 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
20393 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
20394 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
20396 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
20397 this will make spam disappear.
20399 There are some variables to customize, of course:
20402 @item gnus-use-nocem
20403 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
20404 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
20407 @item gnus-nocem-groups
20408 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
20409 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
20410 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
20411 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
20413 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
20414 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
20415 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
20416 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
20417 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
20418 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
20420 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
20421 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
20423 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
20424 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
20425 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
20426 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
20427 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
20428 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
20429 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
20430 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
20431 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
20432 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
20434 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
20435 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
20438 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
20441 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
20442 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
20445 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
20448 The specs are applied left-to-right.
20451 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
20452 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
20454 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
20455 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
20456 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
20457 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
20459 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
20460 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
20463 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
20465 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
20473 This might be dangerous, though.
20475 @item gnus-nocem-directory
20476 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
20477 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
20478 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
20480 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
20481 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
20482 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
20483 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
20484 might then see old spam.
20486 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
20487 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
20488 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
20489 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
20490 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
20493 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
20494 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
20495 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
20496 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
20500 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
20501 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
20502 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
20503 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
20510 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
20511 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
20512 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
20514 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
20515 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
20516 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
20517 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
20518 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
20519 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
20520 @code{undo} function.
20522 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
20523 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
20524 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
20525 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
20526 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
20527 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
20528 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
20529 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
20530 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
20531 never be totally undoable.
20533 @findex gnus-undo-mode
20534 @vindex gnus-use-undo
20536 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
20537 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
20538 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
20539 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
20543 @node Predicate Specifiers
20544 @section Predicate Specifiers
20545 @cindex predicate specifiers
20547 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
20548 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
20549 to type all that much.
20551 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
20556 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
20557 gnus-article-unread-p)
20560 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
20561 functions all take one parameter.
20563 @findex gnus-make-predicate
20564 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
20565 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
20566 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
20571 @section Moderation
20574 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
20575 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
20576 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
20579 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
20583 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
20586 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
20588 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
20593 You split your incoming mail by matching on
20594 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
20595 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
20598 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
20599 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
20602 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
20603 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
20607 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
20610 (setq gnus-moderated-list
20611 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
20615 @node Image Enhancements
20616 @section Image Enhancements
20618 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21, is able to display pictures and stuff, so
20619 Gnus has taken advantage of that.
20622 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
20623 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
20624 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
20625 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
20626 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
20639 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
20640 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
20641 over your shoulder as you read news.
20644 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
20645 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
20646 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
20647 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
20648 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
20653 @subsubsection Picon Basics
20655 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
20664 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
20665 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
20666 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
20667 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
20668 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
20669 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
20670 @code{GIF} formats.
20673 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20674 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
20675 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
20676 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
20677 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
20679 @vindex gnus-picons-database
20680 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
20681 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
20682 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
20683 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
20684 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
20686 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
20687 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
20690 @node Picon Requirements
20691 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
20693 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must have @code{x} support
20694 compiled into XEmacs. To display color picons which are much nicer
20695 than the black & white one, you also need one of @code{xpm} or
20696 @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
20698 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20699 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
20700 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
20701 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
20702 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
20703 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20706 @subsubsection Easy Picons
20708 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
20709 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
20712 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
20713 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
20716 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
20717 containing the Picons databases.
20719 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
20722 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20723 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
20728 @subsubsection Hard Picons
20736 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
20737 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
20738 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
20739 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
20740 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
20745 @item gnus-picons-database
20746 @vindex gnus-picons-database
20747 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
20748 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
20749 subdirectories. This is only useful if
20750 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
20751 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
20753 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20754 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20755 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
20756 engine is @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
20757 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
20758 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
20759 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
20761 @item gnus-picons-display-where
20762 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
20763 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
20764 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
20765 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
20766 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
20767 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
20768 routines---@pxref{Window Layout}.
20770 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
20771 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
20772 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
20777 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
20778 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
20780 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
20781 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
20784 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
20786 @item gnus-article-display-picons
20787 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
20788 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
20789 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
20791 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
20792 @findex gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
20793 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
20794 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the function name, not @code{xface})
20800 @node Picon Useless Configuration
20801 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
20809 The following variables offer further control over how things are
20810 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
20811 don't need to worry about.
20815 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
20816 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
20817 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
20818 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
20820 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
20821 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
20822 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
20823 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
20825 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
20826 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
20827 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
20828 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
20829 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
20831 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20832 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20833 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
20834 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
20835 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
20836 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
20837 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
20838 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20840 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
20841 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
20842 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
20843 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
20844 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20846 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
20847 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
20848 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
20849 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
20850 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
20851 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
20852 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
20854 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
20855 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
20856 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
20857 Defaults to @code{nil}.
20859 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
20860 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
20861 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
20862 Defaults to @code{t}.
20864 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
20865 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
20866 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
20867 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
20869 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
20870 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
20871 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
20873 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
20874 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
20875 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
20876 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
20878 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
20879 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the default.
20881 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
20882 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
20883 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
20884 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
20885 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
20886 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
20887 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
20888 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
20899 @subsection Smileys
20904 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
20909 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
20910 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
20912 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
20913 @file{.gnus.el} file:
20916 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
20919 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
20920 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
20921 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
20922 text and maps that to file names.
20924 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
20925 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
20926 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
20927 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
20928 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
20929 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
20931 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
20932 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
20934 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
20935 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
20936 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
20938 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
20939 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
20943 @item smiley-data-directory
20944 @vindex smiley-data-directory
20945 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
20947 @item smiley-flesh-color
20948 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
20949 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
20951 @item smiley-features-color
20952 @vindex smiley-features-color
20953 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
20955 @item smiley-tongue-color
20956 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
20957 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
20959 @item smiley-circle-color
20960 @vindex smiley-circle-color
20961 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
20963 @item smiley-mouse-face
20964 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
20965 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
20974 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
20975 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
20976 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
20980 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
20981 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
20982 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
20983 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
20991 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
20992 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
20993 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
20994 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
20996 The variable that controls this is the
20997 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
20998 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
20999 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
21000 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
21001 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
21003 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
21004 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
21005 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
21006 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
21009 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
21010 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
21011 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
21012 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
21013 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
21014 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
21015 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
21016 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
21018 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
21021 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21022 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
21024 @findex gnus-random-x-face
21025 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
21026 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
21027 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
21028 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
21029 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
21030 header data as a string.
21032 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
21033 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
21034 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
21035 randomly generated data.
21037 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
21038 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
21039 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
21040 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
21042 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
21043 like the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
21046 (setq message-required-news-headers
21047 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21048 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
21051 Using the last function would be something like this:
21054 (setq message-required-news-headers
21055 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21056 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
21057 (gnus-x-face-from-file
21058 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
21063 @subsection Toolbar
21073 @item gnus-use-toolbar
21074 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
21075 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
21076 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
21077 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
21079 @item gnus-group-toolbar
21080 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
21081 The toolbar in the group buffer.
21083 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
21084 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
21085 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
21087 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21088 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21089 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
21095 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
21098 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21099 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21100 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
21101 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
21102 unusual directory structure.
21104 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21105 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21106 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
21107 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
21109 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21110 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21111 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
21112 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
21113 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
21114 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
21116 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21117 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21118 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
21132 @node Fuzzy Matching
21133 @section Fuzzy Matching
21134 @cindex fuzzy matching
21136 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
21137 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
21139 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
21140 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
21141 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
21143 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
21144 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
21145 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
21146 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
21147 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
21150 @node Thwarting Email Spam
21151 @section Thwarting Email Spam
21155 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21157 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
21158 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
21159 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
21160 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
21161 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
21162 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
21163 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
21164 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
21167 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
21168 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
21169 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
21170 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
21171 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
21172 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
21174 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
21177 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
21178 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
21179 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
21180 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
21181 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
21182 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
21185 @node The problem of spam
21186 @subsection The problem of spam
21188 @cindex spam filtering approaches
21189 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
21191 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21193 First, some background on spam.
21195 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
21196 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it exists
21197 because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail, so only
21198 a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to make it
21199 worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most common
21200 spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for further
21201 spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers}, but terms like
21202 @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, and @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
21204 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
21205 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
21206 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
21207 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
21208 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
21209 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
21210 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
21211 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
21212 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
21215 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering. If you get 200
21216 spam messages per day from @email{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you
21217 block @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about
21218 @samp{VIAGRA}, you discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the
21219 message. This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate
21220 e-mail. For instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest
21221 has been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it
21222 @strong{contained} words that were common in spam messages.
21223 Nevertheless, in isolated cases, with great care, direct filtering of
21224 mail can be useful.
21226 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
21227 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
21228 @code{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @samp{X} in
21229 China, Ghana, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
21230 @code{N} systems enter @samp{X} or the spam e-mail from @samp{X} into
21231 a database. The criteria for spam detection vary - it may be the
21232 number of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When
21233 a user of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a
21234 message is spam, he consults one of those @code{N} systems.
21236 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
21237 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
21238 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
21239 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
21240 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
21241 sending spam, and their web sites have been shut down for some time
21242 because of the incident.
21244 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
21245 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
21246 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
21247 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
21248 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
21249 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
21250 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
21251 to store the database of spam analyses.
21253 @node Anti-Spam Basics
21254 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
21258 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21260 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
21261 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
21263 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
21264 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
21265 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
21266 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
21267 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
21268 part of the mail address.)
21271 (setq message-default-news-headers
21272 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
21275 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
21276 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21281 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
21282 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
21283 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
21289 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
21290 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
21291 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
21292 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
21294 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @sc{smtp} server
21295 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
21296 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
21297 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
21298 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
21299 your fancy split rule in this way:
21304 (to "larsi" "misc")
21308 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
21309 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
21310 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
21311 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
21312 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
21314 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
21315 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
21316 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
21317 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
21318 cosmic balance somewhat.
21320 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
21321 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
21322 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
21323 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
21328 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
21329 @cindex SpamAssassin
21330 @cindex Vipul's Razor
21333 The days where the hints in the previous section was sufficient in
21334 avoiding spam is coming to an end. There are many tools out there
21335 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
21336 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
21337 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
21338 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
21339 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
21341 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
21342 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
21343 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
21344 Specifiers}) follows.
21348 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
21351 :postscript "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
21354 Once you managed to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
21355 the mail contain e.g. a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
21356 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
21359 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
21363 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
21366 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
21367 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
21371 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
21372 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
21373 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
21374 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
21377 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
21379 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
21381 (let ((buf (or (get-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
21382 (get-buffer " *nnml move*"))))
21384 (progn (message "Oops, cannot find message buffer") nil)
21386 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
21387 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
21391 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
21392 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
21393 spam. And here is the nifty function:
21396 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
21397 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
21399 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
21400 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
21401 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
21405 @subsection Hashcash
21408 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
21409 costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
21410 you cannot rely on that everyone in the world uses this technique,
21411 since it is not part of the Internet standards, but it may be useful
21412 in smaller communities.
21414 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
21415 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
21416 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
21417 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
21418 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
21419 instead requires that everyone you communicate with supports the
21420 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
21421 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
21422 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
21423 one of them separately.
21426 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
21427 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
21428 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
21429 header. For more details, and for the external application
21430 @code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
21431 @uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
21432 information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
21434 If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
21438 (require 'hashcash)
21439 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
21442 The @code{hashcash.el} library can be found at
21443 @uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}, or in the Gnus
21444 development contrib directory.
21446 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
21450 @item hashcash-default-payment
21451 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
21452 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
21453 should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
21454 done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
21456 @item hashcash-payment-alist
21457 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
21458 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
21459 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(ADDR AMOUNT)} cells,
21460 where ADDR is the receiver (email address or newsgroup) and AMOUNT is
21461 the number of bits in the collision that is needed. It can also
21462 contain @samp{(ADDR STRING AMOUNT)} cells, where the STRING is the
21463 string to use (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
21467 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
21471 Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
21472 hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
21473 customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
21474 a useful contribution, however.
21476 @node Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
21477 @subsection Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
21478 @cindex spam filtering
21481 The idea behind @code{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
21482 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @code{spam.el} does two things: it
21483 filters incoming mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam or ham.
21484 @emph{Ham} is the name used throughout @code{spam.el} to indicate
21487 So, what happens when you load @code{spam.el}? First of all, you get
21488 the following keyboard commands:
21498 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
21499 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
21501 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{H} mark.
21502 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
21503 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group. This is done automatically
21504 for unread articles in @emph{spam} groups.
21510 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
21511 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
21513 You must have Bogofilter installed for that command to work properly.
21519 Also, when you load @code{spam.el}, you will be able to customize its
21520 variables. Try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{spam} variable
21523 The concepts of ham processors and spam processors are very important.
21524 Ham processors and spam processors for a group can be set with the
21525 @code{spam-process} group parameter, or the
21526 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. Ham processors take
21527 mail known to be non-spam (@emph{ham}) and process it in some way so
21528 that later similar mail will also be considered non-spam. Spam
21529 processors take mail known to be spam and process it so similar spam
21530 will be detected later.
21532 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
21533 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
21534 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
21535 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
21536 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
21537 by customizing the corresponding variable
21538 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
21539 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
21540 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
21541 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
21542 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
21543 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
21544 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
21547 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
21548 they get the @samp{H} mark when you enter the group. You must review
21549 these messages from time to time and remove the @samp{H} mark for
21550 every message that is not spam after all. To remove the @samp{H}
21551 mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to "unread" the article, or @kbd{d} for
21552 declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a group, all
21553 spam-marked (@samp{H}) articles are sent to a spam processor which
21554 will study them as spam samples.
21556 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
21557 @code{spam-ham-marks} gets overridden below, marks @samp{R} and
21558 @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
21559 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
21560 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
21561 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
21562 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
21563 should then adjust the @code{spam-ham-marks} variable.
21565 @defvar spam-ham-marks
21566 You can customize this variable to be the list of marks you want to
21567 consider ham. By default, the list contains the deleted, read,
21568 killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks.
21571 @defvar spam-spam-marks
21572 You can customize this variable to be the list of marks you want to
21573 consider spam. By default, the list contains only the spam mark.
21576 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
21577 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
21578 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
21579 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
21580 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
21581 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{H},
21584 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
21585 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
21586 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
21587 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
21588 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
21589 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
21590 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
21591 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with
21592 @code{customize-variable gnus-ham-process-destinations}). The ultimate
21593 location is a group name. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
21594 parameter is not set, spam articles are only expired.
21596 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
21597 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
21599 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
21600 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
21601 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
21602 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
21603 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
21604 customize this variable with @code{customize-variable
21605 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). The ultimate location is a group
21606 name. If the @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set,
21607 the spam articles are only expired.
21609 To use the @code{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
21610 must add the following to your fancy split list
21611 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
21617 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
21618 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
21619 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
21621 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the
21622 mail considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
21623 @code{spam-split-group}. By default that group name is @samp{spam},
21624 but you can customize it.
21626 @emph{Note for IMAP users}
21628 The boolean variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} needs to be
21629 set, if you want to split based on the whole message instead of just
21630 the headers. By default, the nnimap backend will only retrieve the
21631 message headers. If you use spam-check-bogofilter, spam-check-ifile,
21632 or spam-check-stat (the splitters that can benefit from the full
21633 message body), you should set this variable. It is not set by default
21634 because it will slow IMAP down.
21636 @xref{Splitting in IMAP}.
21638 @emph{TODO: Currently, spam.el only supports insertion of articles
21639 into a backend. There is no way to tell spam.el that an article is no
21640 longer spam or ham.}
21642 @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
21643 statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
21646 The following are the methods you can use to control the behavior of
21647 @code{spam-split} and their corresponding spam and ham processors:
21650 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
21651 * BBDB Whitelists::
21654 * ifile spam filtering::
21655 * spam-stat spam filtering::
21656 * Extending the spam elisp package::
21659 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
21660 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
21661 @cindex spam filtering
21662 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
21663 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
21666 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
21667 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
21668 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
21669 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
21670 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
21674 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
21675 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
21676 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
21677 whitelist will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an
21678 implicit filter, meaning it believes everyone to be a spammer unless
21679 told otherwise. Use with care.
21682 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
21683 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21684 customizing the group parameters or the
21685 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21686 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
21687 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
21690 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
21691 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21692 customizing the group parameters or the
21693 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21694 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
21695 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
21696 whitelist. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
21697 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
21700 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
21701 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
21702 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
21703 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
21704 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
21706 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
21707 legitimate. All non-whitelisted addresses are considered spammers.
21708 This option is probably not useful for most Gnus users unless the
21709 whitelists is very comprehensive or permissive. Also see @ref{BBDB
21710 Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the Emacs regular expression
21713 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
21714 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
21715 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
21716 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
21717 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
21718 @file{blacklist} respectively.
21720 @node BBDB Whitelists
21721 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
21722 @cindex spam filtering
21723 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
21724 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
21727 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
21729 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
21730 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted addresses,
21731 without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded for
21732 @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Only addresses in the BBDB
21733 will be allowed through; all others will be classified as spam.
21737 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
21738 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21739 customizing the group parameters or the
21740 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21741 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
21742 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
21743 BBDB. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
21744 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
21748 @subsubsection Blackholes
21749 @cindex spam filtering
21750 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
21753 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
21755 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
21756 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
21757 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
21758 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
21759 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
21760 contains outdated servers.
21762 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
21763 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
21764 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to nil. It is not recommended at this
21765 time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to nil despite the possible
21766 performance improvements, because some users may be unable to use it,
21767 but you can try it and see if it works for you.
21771 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
21773 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
21777 @defvar spam-use-dig
21779 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
21780 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
21784 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
21785 ham processor for blackholes.
21788 @subsubsection Bogofilter
21789 @cindex spam filtering
21790 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
21793 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
21795 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
21798 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{H} mark for spam
21799 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
21800 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
21801 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
21802 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
21803 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
21805 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on an internal
21806 threshold, set at compilation time. That threshold can't be
21809 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
21810 processing will be turned off.
21812 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
21816 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
21818 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
21819 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
21820 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
21821 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
21822 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
21823 installation documents for details.
21825 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
21829 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
21830 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21831 customizing the group parameters or the
21832 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21833 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
21834 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
21837 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
21838 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21839 customizing the group parameters or the
21840 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21841 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
21842 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
21843 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
21844 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
21847 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
21849 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
21850 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
21851 database directory.
21855 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to ifile in intent and
21856 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
21857 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
21858 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
21859 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
21860 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
21862 @node ifile spam filtering
21863 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
21864 @cindex spam filtering
21865 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
21868 @defvar spam-use-ifile
21870 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use ifile, a
21871 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
21875 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
21877 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
21878 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
21879 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
21883 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
21885 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
21886 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
21887 the default value of @samp{spam}.
21890 @defvar spam-ifile-database-path
21892 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
21893 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
21897 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
21898 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
21899 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
21900 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
21903 @node spam-stat spam filtering
21904 @subsubsection spam-stat spam filtering
21905 @cindex spam filtering
21906 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
21910 @xref{Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat}.
21912 @defvar spam-use-stat
21914 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use
21915 spam-stat.el, an Emacs Lisp statistical analyzer.
21919 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
21920 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21921 customizing the group parameters or the
21922 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21923 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
21924 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
21927 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
21928 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
21929 customizing the group parameters or the
21930 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
21931 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
21932 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
21933 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
21934 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
21937 This enables spam.el to cooperate with spam-stat.el. spam-stat.el
21938 provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database, which unlike ifile or
21939 Bogofilter does not require external programs. A spam and a ham
21940 processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for @code{spam-split}
21943 @node Extending the spam elisp package
21944 @subsubsection Extending the spam elisp package
21945 @cindex spam filtering
21946 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
21947 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
21949 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
21950 incoming mail, provide the following:
21958 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
21959 "True if blackbox should be used.")
21964 (spam-use-blackbox . spam-check-blackbox)
21966 to @code{spam-list-of-checks}.
21971 Write the @code{spam-check-blackbox} function. It should return
21972 @samp{nil} or @code{spam-split-group}. See the existing
21973 @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can do.
21976 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
21983 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
21984 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
21987 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
21988 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
21989 Only applicable to spam groups.")
21991 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
21992 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
21993 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
22001 (defun spam-blackbox-register-spam-routine ()
22002 (spam-generic-register-routine
22003 ;; the spam function
22005 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
22006 (when (stringp from)
22007 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer from))))
22008 ;; the ham function
22011 (defun spam-blackbox-register-ham-routine ()
22012 (spam-generic-register-routine
22013 ;; the spam function
22015 ;; the ham function
22017 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
22018 (when (stringp from)
22019 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender from))))))
22022 Write the @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender} and
22023 @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer} functions. You can add
22024 more complex code than fetching the message sender, but keep in mind
22025 that retrieving the whole message takes significantly longer than the
22026 sender through @code{spam-fetch-field-from-fast}, because the message
22027 senders are kept in memory by Gnus.
22032 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
22033 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
22034 @cindex Paul Graham
22035 @cindex Graham, Paul
22036 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
22037 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
22038 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
22040 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
22041 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
22042 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
22043 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
22044 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
22045 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
22046 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
22047 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
22048 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
22051 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
22052 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
22053 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
22054 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
22055 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
22056 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
22057 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
22058 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
22060 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
22061 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
22062 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
22063 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
22064 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
22067 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
22068 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
22069 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
22072 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
22073 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
22075 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
22076 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
22077 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
22078 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
22079 need several hundred emails in both collections.
22081 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
22082 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
22083 per mail. Use the following:
22085 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
22086 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
22087 is treated as one spam mail.
22090 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
22091 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
22092 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
22095 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
22096 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
22097 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
22098 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
22099 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
22100 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
22102 When you are using IMAP, you won't have the mails available locally,
22103 so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent to cache
22104 the articles. Then you can use directories such as
22105 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
22106 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
22109 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics -- the
22110 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
22111 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
22112 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
22115 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
22116 reset the dictionary.
22118 @defun spam-stat-reset
22119 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
22122 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
22123 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
22124 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
22125 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
22126 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
22127 only non-spam mails.
22129 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
22130 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
22131 to update the dictionary incrementally.
22134 @defun spam-stat-save
22135 Save the dictionary.
22138 @defvar spam-stat-file
22139 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
22140 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
22143 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
22144 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
22146 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
22147 following to your @file{~/.gnus} file:
22150 (require 'spam-stat)
22154 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
22157 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
22158 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
22159 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
22160 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
22162 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
22163 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
22164 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
22165 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
22168 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22169 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22173 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
22174 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
22177 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
22178 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
22179 expression are considered potential spam.
22182 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22183 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22184 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22188 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
22189 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
22190 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
22191 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
22192 mails, when creating the dictionary!
22195 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22196 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22197 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22201 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
22202 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
22203 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
22204 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
22205 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
22209 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
22210 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
22211 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
22212 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
22217 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
22218 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
22220 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
22222 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
22223 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
22224 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
22227 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
22228 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
22229 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
22232 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
22233 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
22234 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
22235 already been processed as non-spam.
22238 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
22239 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
22240 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
22241 been processed as spam.
22244 @defun spam-stat-save
22245 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
22246 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
22249 @defun spam-stat-load
22250 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
22251 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
22254 @defun spam-stat-score-word
22255 Return the spam score for a word.
22258 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
22259 Return the spam score for a buffer.
22262 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
22263 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
22264 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
22267 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
22268 following in your @file{~/.gnus} file:
22271 (require 'spam-stat)
22275 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
22278 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
22279 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22280 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22281 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22282 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
22283 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
22284 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22285 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22286 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
22287 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22288 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
22289 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
22290 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22291 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22294 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
22297 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
22298 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
22299 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
22300 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
22301 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
22302 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
22305 @node Various Various
22306 @section Various Various
22312 @item gnus-home-directory
22313 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
22314 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
22316 @item gnus-directory
22317 @vindex gnus-directory
22318 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
22319 this variable, which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment
22320 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
22322 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
22323 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
22324 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
22325 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
22327 @item gnus-default-directory
22328 @vindex gnus-default-directory
22329 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
22330 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
22331 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
22332 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
22333 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
22334 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
22337 @vindex gnus-verbose
22338 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
22339 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
22340 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
22341 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
22342 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
22344 @item gnus-verbose-backends
22345 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
22346 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
22347 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
22349 @item nnheader-max-head-length
22350 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
22351 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
22352 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
22353 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
22354 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
22355 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
22356 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
22357 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
22358 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
22360 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
22361 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
22362 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
22363 read when doing the operation described above.
22365 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22366 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22368 @cindex invalid characters in file names
22369 @cindex characters in file names
22370 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
22371 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
22372 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
22375 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
22379 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
22380 Windows (phooey) systems.
22382 @item gnus-hidden-properties
22383 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
22384 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
22385 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
22386 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
22388 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
22389 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
22390 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
22391 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
22392 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
22394 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
22395 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
22396 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
22398 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
22399 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
22401 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
22402 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
22403 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
22404 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
22407 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
22415 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
22416 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
22418 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
22420 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
22426 Not because of victories @*
22429 but for the common sunshine,@*
22431 the largess of the spring.
22435 but for the day's work done@*
22436 as well as I was able;@*
22437 not for a seat upon the dais@*
22438 but at the common table.@*
22443 @chapter Appendices
22446 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
22447 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
22448 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
22449 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
22450 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
22451 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
22452 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
22453 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
22454 * Frequently Asked Questions::
22461 @cindex Installing under XEmacs
22463 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
22464 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
22465 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
22466 @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
22467 @samp{xemacs-base}, @samp{sh-script} and @samp{fsf-compat}. The
22468 @samp{misc-games} package is required for Morse decoding.
22475 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
22476 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
22478 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
22479 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
22480 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
22481 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
22482 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
22484 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
22485 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
22486 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
22487 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
22488 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
22489 appropriate name, don't you think?)
22491 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
22492 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
22493 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
22494 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
22497 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
22498 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
22499 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
22500 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
22501 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
22502 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
22503 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
22504 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
22505 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
22509 @node Gnus Versions
22510 @subsection Gnus Versions
22512 @cindex September Gnus
22514 @cindex Quassia Gnus
22515 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
22519 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
22520 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
22521 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
22523 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
22524 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
22526 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
22527 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
22529 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
22530 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
22532 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
22533 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
22536 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
22538 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
22539 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
22540 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
22541 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
22542 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
22543 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
22546 @node Other Gnus Versions
22547 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
22550 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
22551 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
22552 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
22553 @sc{mime} capabilities.
22555 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
22556 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
22557 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
22558 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
22565 What's the point of Gnus?
22567 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
22568 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
22569 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
22570 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
22571 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
22572 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
22573 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
22574 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
22575 keep track of millions of people who post?
22577 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
22578 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
22579 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
22580 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
22581 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
22582 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
22583 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
22584 every one of you to explore and invent.
22586 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
22587 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
22590 @node Compatibility
22591 @subsection Compatibility
22593 @cindex compatibility
22594 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
22595 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
22596 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
22601 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
22605 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
22608 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
22611 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
22612 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
22613 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
22614 important variables have their values copied into their global
22615 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
22616 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
22618 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
22619 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
22620 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
22621 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
22622 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
22626 @cindex highlighting
22627 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
22628 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
22629 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
22630 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
22631 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
22632 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
22635 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
22636 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
22637 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
22638 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
22640 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
22641 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
22642 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
22643 to stop doing it the old way.
22645 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
22647 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
22649 @cindex reporting bugs
22651 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
22652 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
22653 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
22655 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
22656 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
22657 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
22658 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
22663 @subsection Conformity
22665 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
22666 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
22674 There are no known breaches of this standard.
22678 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
22680 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
22681 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
22682 We do have some breaches to this one.
22688 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
22689 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
22690 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
22691 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
22692 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
22697 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
22698 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
22699 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
22700 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
22702 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
22704 All the various @sc{mime} RFCs are supported.
22706 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
22707 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
22709 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
22712 RFC 1991 is the original PGP message specification, published as a
22713 Information RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now called Open PGP, and
22714 put on the Standards Track. Both document a non-@sc{mime} aware PGP
22715 format. Gnus supports both encoding (signing and encryption) and
22716 decoding (verification and decryption).
22718 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
22719 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
22720 1991) describes the @sc{mime}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
22721 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
22723 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
22724 RFC 2633 describes the @sc{s/mime} format.
22726 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
22727 RFC 1730 is @sc{imap} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060 (@sc{imap} 4
22728 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5 authentication for @sc{imap}. RFC
22729 2086 describes access control lists (ACLs) for @sc{imap}. RFC 2359
22730 describes a @sc{imap} protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper
22731 TLS integration (STARTTLS) with @sc{imap}. RFC 1731 describes the
22732 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @sc{imap}.
22736 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
22737 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
22742 @subsection Emacsen
22748 Gnus should work on :
22756 XEmacs 21.1.1 and up.
22760 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
22761 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
22762 Emacs versions. However, T-gnus does support ``Mule 2.3 based on Emacs
22763 19.34'' and possibly the versions of XEmacs prior to 21.1.1, e.g. 20.4.
22764 See the file ``README'' in the T-gnus distribution for more details.
22766 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
22767 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
22768 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
22772 @node Gnus Development
22773 @subsection Gnus Development
22775 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
22776 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
22777 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
22778 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
22779 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
22780 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
22781 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
22782 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
22784 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
22785 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
22786 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
22787 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
22788 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
22791 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
22792 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
22793 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
22794 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
22795 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
22797 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
22798 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
22799 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
22800 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
22801 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
22802 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
22803 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
22804 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
22805 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
22806 can't be assumed to do so.
22811 @subsection Contributors
22812 @cindex contributors
22814 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
22815 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
22816 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
22817 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
22818 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
22819 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
22820 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
22821 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
22822 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
22823 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
22825 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
22831 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
22834 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
22835 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
22836 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
22837 functionality and stuff.
22840 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
22841 well as numerous other things).
22844 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
22847 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
22850 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
22853 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
22856 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
22857 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
22860 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
22863 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
22864 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
22867 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
22870 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
22873 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
22876 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
22879 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
22880 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
22883 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
22886 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
22889 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
22892 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
22896 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
22899 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
22902 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
22905 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
22906 well as autoconf support.
22910 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
22911 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
22913 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
22922 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
22926 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
22936 Alexei V. Barantsev,
22951 Massimo Campostrini,
22956 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
22957 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
22961 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
22964 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
22970 Michael Welsh Duggan,
22975 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
22979 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
22987 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
22989 Michelangelo Grigni,
22993 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
22995 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
22997 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
23004 François Felix Ingrand,
23005 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
23006 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
23008 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
23019 Peter Skov Knudsen,
23020 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
23022 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
23023 Thor Kristoffersen,
23026 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
23044 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
23045 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
23052 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
23057 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
23061 John McClary Prevost,
23067 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
23072 Christian von Roques,
23075 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
23082 Philippe Schnoebelen,
23084 Randal L. Schwartz,
23098 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
23103 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
23119 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
23124 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
23125 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
23126 (550kB and counting).
23128 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
23131 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
23132 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
23136 @subsection New Features
23137 @cindex new features
23140 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
23141 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
23142 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
23143 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
23144 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
23147 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
23148 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
23149 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
23152 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
23154 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
23159 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
23160 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
23163 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
23164 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
23167 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
23170 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
23171 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
23172 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
23175 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
23176 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
23177 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
23178 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
23181 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
23182 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23185 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
23186 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
23187 (@pxref{The Active File}).
23190 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
23191 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
23194 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
23195 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
23196 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
23199 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
23200 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
23201 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
23204 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus.el}) to avoid cluttering up
23205 the @file{.emacs} file.
23208 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
23209 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
23212 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
23213 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
23216 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
23217 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23220 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
23221 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
23224 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
23225 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
23228 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
23231 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
23232 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
23235 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
23236 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
23239 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
23240 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
23243 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
23246 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
23247 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
23250 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
23254 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
23258 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
23259 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
23262 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
23268 @node September Gnus
23269 @subsubsection September Gnus
23273 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
23277 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
23282 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
23283 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
23287 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
23288 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
23292 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
23296 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
23297 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
23300 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
23304 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
23307 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
23310 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
23313 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
23317 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
23318 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
23321 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
23325 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
23329 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
23333 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
23337 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
23340 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
23341 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
23344 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
23348 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
23349 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
23352 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
23355 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
23356 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
23357 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
23360 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
23364 The Gnus cache is much faster.
23367 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
23371 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
23372 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
23375 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
23376 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
23379 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
23380 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
23383 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
23384 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
23385 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
23388 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
23389 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
23392 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
23395 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
23398 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
23401 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
23404 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
23405 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
23408 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
23412 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
23415 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
23420 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
23423 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
23427 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
23430 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
23434 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
23437 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
23440 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
23441 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
23444 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
23445 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
23449 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
23450 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
23453 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
23457 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
23458 buffer to allow easier treatment.
23461 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
23464 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
23468 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
23472 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
23473 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
23476 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
23480 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
23481 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
23484 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
23485 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
23488 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
23492 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
23495 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
23498 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
23504 @subsubsection Red Gnus
23506 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
23510 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
23517 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
23520 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
23521 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
23524 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
23525 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
23529 Article washing status can be displayed in the
23530 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
23533 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
23536 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
23537 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
23540 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
23544 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
23545 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
23549 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
23550 Server Internals}).
23553 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
23557 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
23560 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
23561 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
23564 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
23565 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
23566 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
23569 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
23570 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
23573 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
23574 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
23577 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
23581 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
23582 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
23585 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
23586 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
23589 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
23593 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
23596 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
23600 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
23601 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
23604 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
23605 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
23608 A new command for reading collections of documents
23609 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
23610 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
23613 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
23617 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
23618 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
23621 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
23622 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
23623 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
23626 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
23627 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
23631 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
23635 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
23639 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
23644 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
23648 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
23652 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
23653 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
23656 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
23662 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
23664 New features in Gnus 5.6:
23669 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
23670 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
23671 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
23674 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
23675 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
23676 group, which is created automatically.
23679 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
23683 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
23686 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
23687 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
23690 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
23694 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
23697 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
23698 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
23701 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
23704 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
23705 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
23708 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
23709 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
23712 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
23713 control over simplification.
23716 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
23719 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
23723 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
23726 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
23729 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
23730 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
23731 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
23734 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
23735 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
23738 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
23742 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
23743 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
23746 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
23747 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
23750 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
23754 A history of where mails have been split is available.
23757 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
23760 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
23761 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
23764 A new function for citing in Message has been
23765 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
23768 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
23771 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
23775 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
23776 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
23779 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
23780 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
23783 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
23786 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
23790 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
23791 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
23793 New features in Gnus 5.8:
23798 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
23799 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
23801 If you used procmail like in
23804 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
23805 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
23806 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
23807 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
23810 this now has changed to
23814 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
23818 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
23819 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
23822 Gnus is now a @sc{mime}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
23823 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
23826 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
23827 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
23830 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
23831 called to position point.
23834 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
23835 summary buffers and @sc{nov} files.
23838 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
23839 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
23842 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
23843 subtly different manner.
23846 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
23847 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
23848 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
23851 Gnus can now read @sc{imap} mail via @code{nnimap}.
23859 @section The Manual
23863 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
23864 either @code{texi2dvi}
23866 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
23867 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
23869 to get what you hold in your hands now.
23871 The following conventions have been used:
23876 This is a @samp{string}
23879 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
23882 This is a @file{file}
23885 This is a @code{symbol}
23889 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
23893 (setq flargnoze "yes")
23896 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
23899 (setq flumphel 'yes)
23902 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
23903 ever get them confused.
23907 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
23908 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
23909 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
23910 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
23911 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
23912 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
23913 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
23919 @node On Writing Manuals
23920 @section On Writing Manuals
23922 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
23923 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
23924 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
23925 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
23926 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
23927 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
23930 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
23931 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
23932 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
23935 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
23936 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
23941 @section Terminology
23943 @cindex terminology
23948 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
23949 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
23950 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
23951 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
23952 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
23956 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
23957 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
23958 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
23959 not posting, and replying is not following up.
23963 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
23967 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
23972 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
23973 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
23974 commonly fetched via the protocol NNTP, whereas mail messages could be
23975 read from a file on the local disk. The internal architecture of Gnus
23976 thus comprises a `front end' and a number of `back ends'. Internally,
23977 when you enter a group (by hitting @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke
23978 a function in the front end in Gnus. The front end then `talks' to a
23979 back end and says things like ``Give me the list of articles in the foo
23980 group'' or ``Show me article number 4711''.
23982 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back end
23983 accesses news via NNTP, the @code{nnimap} back end accesses mail via
23984 IMAP) or a file format and directory layout (the @code{nnspool} back end
23985 accesses news via the common `spool directory' format, the @code{nnml}
23986 back end access mail via a file format and directory layout that's
23989 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
23990 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
23991 access the articles.
23993 However, sometimes the term `back end' is also used where `server'
23994 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term `select
23995 method' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
24000 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
24001 default, way of getting news.
24005 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
24006 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
24011 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
24012 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
24016 A message that has been posted as news.
24019 @cindex mail message
24020 A message that has been mailed.
24024 A mail message or news article
24028 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
24033 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
24038 A line from the head of an article.
24042 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
24043 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
24047 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
24048 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
24049 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
24050 normal @sc{head} format.
24054 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
24055 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
24056 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
24057 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
24058 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
24059 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
24061 @item killed groups
24062 @cindex killed groups
24063 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
24064 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
24066 @item zombie groups
24067 @cindex zombie groups
24068 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
24071 @cindex active file
24072 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
24073 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
24074 is rather large, as you might surmise.
24077 @cindex bogus groups
24078 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
24079 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
24080 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
24083 @cindex activating groups
24084 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
24085 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
24086 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
24090 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
24092 @item select method
24093 @cindex select method
24094 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
24097 @item virtual server
24098 @cindex virtual server
24099 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
24100 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
24101 whole is a virtual server.
24105 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
24106 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
24109 @item ephemeral groups
24110 @cindex ephemeral groups
24111 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
24112 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
24113 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
24116 @cindex solid groups
24117 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
24118 group buffer are solid groups.
24120 @item sparse articles
24121 @cindex sparse articles
24122 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
24123 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
24127 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
24128 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
24132 @cindex thread root
24133 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
24134 articles in the thread.
24138 An article that has responses.
24142 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
24146 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
24147 specified by RFC 1153.
24153 @node Customization
24154 @section Customization
24155 @cindex general customization
24157 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
24158 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
24159 for some quite common situations.
24162 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
24163 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
24164 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
24165 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
24169 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
24170 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
24172 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
24173 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
24174 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
24178 @item gnus-read-active-file
24179 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
24180 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
24181 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
24182 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
24183 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
24185 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
24186 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
24187 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
24188 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
24192 @node Slow Terminal Connection
24193 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
24195 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
24196 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
24197 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
24201 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
24202 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
24203 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
24204 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
24205 horizontal and vertical recentering.
24207 @item gnus-visible-headers
24208 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
24209 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
24210 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
24211 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
24213 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
24215 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
24216 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
24217 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
24220 @item gnus-use-full-window
24221 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
24222 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
24223 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
24224 want to read them anyway.
24226 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
24227 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
24231 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
24232 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
24233 lines, which might save some time.
24237 @node Little Disk Space
24238 @subsection Little Disk Space
24241 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
24242 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
24246 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
24247 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
24248 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
24249 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
24252 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
24253 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
24254 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
24255 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
24258 @item gnus-save-killed-list
24259 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
24260 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
24261 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
24262 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
24268 @subsection Slow Machine
24269 @cindex slow machine
24271 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
24272 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
24274 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
24275 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
24277 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
24278 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
24279 summary buffer faster.
24283 @node Troubleshooting
24284 @section Troubleshooting
24285 @cindex troubleshooting
24287 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
24295 Make sure your computer is switched on.
24298 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
24299 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
24303 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
24304 like @samp{T-gnus 6.15.* (based on Oort Gnus v0.*; for SEMI 1.1*, FLIM
24305 1.1*)} you have the right files loaded. If, on the other hand, you get
24306 something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp flee}, you have some old
24307 @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
24310 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
24314 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
24315 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
24316 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
24317 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
24318 something like that.
24321 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
24324 @cindex reporting bugs
24326 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
24328 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
24329 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
24330 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
24331 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
24333 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
24334 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
24335 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
24336 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
24339 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
24340 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
24341 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
24342 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
24343 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
24344 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
24346 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
24347 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
24348 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
24352 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
24353 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
24356 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
24357 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
24358 edebug. Debugging lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
24359 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
24360 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
24361 you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
24362 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
24363 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
24364 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
24365 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
24366 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
24367 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
24368 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
24369 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
24374 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate a elisp error but
24375 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
24376 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press C-j when things are
24377 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
24378 helps isolating the real problem areas). A fancier approach is to use
24379 the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is (or should be) fully
24380 documented elsewhere, but to get you started there are a few steps
24381 that need to be followed. First, instrument the part of Gnus you are
24382 interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package RET
24383 gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-packagre RET message}. Then perform
24384 the operation that is slow and press @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will
24385 then see which operations that takes time, and can debug them further.
24386 If the entire operation takes much longer than the time spent in the
24387 slowest function in the profiler output, you probably profiled the
24388 wrong part of Gnus. To reset profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x
24389 elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove
24390 profiling, but given the complexities and dynamic code generation in
24391 Gnus, it might not always work perfectly.
24393 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
24394 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
24396 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
24397 @cindex ding mailing list
24398 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
24399 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
24403 @node Gnus Reference Guide
24404 @section Gnus Reference Guide
24406 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
24407 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
24408 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
24409 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
24412 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
24413 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
24414 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
24415 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
24416 and general methods of operation.
24419 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
24420 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
24421 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
24422 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
24423 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
24424 * Group Info:: The group info format.
24425 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
24426 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
24427 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
24431 @node Gnus Utility Functions
24432 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
24433 @cindex Gnus utility functions
24434 @cindex utility functions
24436 @cindex internal variables
24438 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
24439 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
24440 Below is a list of the most common ones.
24444 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
24445 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
24446 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
24448 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
24449 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
24450 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
24452 @item gnus-group-real-name
24453 @findex gnus-group-real-name
24454 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
24457 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
24458 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
24459 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
24460 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
24462 @item gnus-get-info
24463 @findex gnus-get-info
24464 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
24466 @item gnus-group-unread
24467 @findex gnus-group-unread
24468 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
24472 @findex gnus-active
24473 The active entry for @var{group}.
24475 @item gnus-set-active
24476 @findex gnus-set-active
24477 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
24479 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
24480 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
24481 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
24484 @item gnus-continuum-version
24485 @findex gnus-continuum-version
24486 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
24487 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
24490 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
24491 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
24492 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
24494 @item gnus-news-group-p
24495 @findex gnus-news-group-p
24496 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
24498 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
24499 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
24500 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
24502 @item gnus-server-to-method
24503 @findex gnus-server-to-method
24504 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
24506 @item gnus-server-equal
24507 @findex gnus-server-equal
24508 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
24510 @item gnus-group-native-p
24511 @findex gnus-group-native-p
24512 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
24514 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
24515 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
24516 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
24518 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
24519 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
24520 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
24522 @item group-group-find-parameter
24523 @findex group-group-find-parameter
24524 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
24525 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
24527 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
24528 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
24529 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
24531 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
24532 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
24533 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
24535 @item gnus-check-backend-function
24536 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
24537 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
24538 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
24541 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
24545 @item gnus-read-method
24546 @findex gnus-read-method
24547 Prompts the user for a select method.
24552 @node Back End Interface
24553 @subsection Back End Interface
24555 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
24556 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
24557 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
24558 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
24559 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
24560 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
24562 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
24563 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
24564 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
24565 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
24566 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
24567 been opened, the function should fail.
24569 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
24570 name. Take this example:
24574 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
24575 (nntp-port-number 4324))
24578 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
24579 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
24581 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
24582 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
24583 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
24585 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
24586 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
24587 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
24589 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
24590 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
24591 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
24592 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
24593 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
24594 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
24597 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
24598 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
24599 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
24600 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
24603 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
24604 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
24605 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
24606 possible for later articles to `re-use' older article numbers without
24607 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
24608 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
24609 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
24610 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
24611 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
24612 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
24614 The previous paragraph already mentions all the `hard' restrictions that
24615 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
24616 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
24617 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
24618 the `no-reuse' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
24619 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
24620 of numbers as long as possible.
24622 Note that by convention, backends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
24623 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
24624 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
24626 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
24629 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
24632 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
24633 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
24634 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
24635 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
24636 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
24637 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
24641 @node Required Back End Functions
24642 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
24646 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
24648 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
24649 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
24650 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
24651 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
24653 The result data should either be HEADs or @sc{nov} lines, and the result
24654 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
24655 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
24656 of HEADs and @sc{nov} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
24658 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
24659 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
24660 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
24661 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
24662 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
24663 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
24664 number, do maximum fetches.
24666 Here's an example HEAD:
24669 221 1056 Article retrieved.
24670 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
24671 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
24672 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
24673 Subject: Re: Something very droll
24674 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
24675 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
24677 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
24678 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
24679 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
24683 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
24684 these in the data buffer.
24686 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
24690 head = error / valid-head
24691 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
24692 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
24693 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
24694 header = <text> eol
24697 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
24698 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
24702 nov-buffer = *nov-line
24703 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
24704 field = <text except TAB>
24707 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
24711 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
24713 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
24714 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
24716 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
24717 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
24718 server. In fact, it should do so.
24720 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
24721 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
24724 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
24726 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
24727 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
24730 There should be no data returned.
24733 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
24735 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
24736 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
24737 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
24738 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
24740 There should be no data returned.
24743 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
24745 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
24746 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
24747 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
24748 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
24750 There should be no data returned.
24753 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
24755 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
24757 There should be no data returned.
24760 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
24762 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
24763 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
24764 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
24765 it would be nice if that were possible.
24767 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
24768 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
24769 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
24770 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
24771 into its article buffer.
24773 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
24774 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
24775 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
24776 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
24777 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
24778 on successful article retrieval.
24781 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
24783 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
24784 making @var{group} the current group.
24786 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
24789 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
24792 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
24795 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
24796 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
24797 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
24798 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
24799 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
24800 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
24801 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
24802 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
24803 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
24807 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
24808 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
24809 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
24813 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
24815 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
24816 a no-op on most back ends.
24818 There should be no data returned.
24821 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
24823 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
24826 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
24829 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
24830 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
24833 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
24834 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
24835 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
24836 and the highest as 0.
24839 active-file = *active-line
24840 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
24842 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
24845 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
24846 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
24847 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
24850 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
24852 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
24853 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
24854 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
24855 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
24856 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
24857 clear if the posting could not be completed.
24859 There should be no result data from this function.
24864 @node Optional Back End Functions
24865 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
24869 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
24871 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
24872 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
24873 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
24875 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
24876 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
24877 former is in the same format as the data from
24878 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
24879 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
24882 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
24886 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
24888 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
24889 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all the
24890 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
24891 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
24892 should return a non-nil value.
24894 There should be no result data from this function.
24897 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
24899 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
24900 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
24901 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
24902 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
24903 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
24904 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
24905 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
24906 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
24908 There should be no result data from this function.
24911 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
24913 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
24914 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
24915 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
24916 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
24917 propagate the mark information to the server.
24919 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
24922 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
24925 RANGE is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. ACTION is
24926 @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove marks
24927 (preserving all marks not mentioned). MARK is a list of marks; where
24928 each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read},
24929 @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
24930 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
24931 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
24932 possible, not limit itself to these.
24934 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
24935 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
24936 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
24937 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
24939 An example action list:
24942 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
24943 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
24944 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
24947 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
24948 mark on (currently not used for anything).
24950 There should be no result data from this function.
24952 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
24954 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
24955 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
24956 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
24957 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
24958 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
24960 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
24961 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
24962 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
24965 There should be no result data from this function.
24968 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
24970 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
24971 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
24972 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query the
24973 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
24974 to be heeded---if the back end decides that it is too much work just
24975 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
24976 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
24978 There should be no result data from this function.
24981 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
24983 The result data from this function should be a description of
24987 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
24989 description = <text>
24992 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
24994 The result data from this function should be the description of all
24995 groups available on the server.
24998 description-buffer = *description-line
25002 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
25004 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
25005 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
25006 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
25007 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
25008 in the active buffer format.
25010 It is okay for this function to return `too many' groups; some back ends
25011 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
25012 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
25013 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
25014 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
25015 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
25016 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
25019 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
25021 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
25023 There should be no return data.
25026 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
25028 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
25029 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
25030 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
25031 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
25032 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
25035 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
25038 There should be no result data returned.
25041 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
25044 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
25045 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
25047 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
25048 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
25049 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
25050 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
25051 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
25052 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
25054 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
25055 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
25058 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
25059 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
25061 The group should exist before the backend is asked to accept the
25062 article for that group.
25064 There should be no data returned.
25067 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
25069 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
25070 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
25071 this function in short order.
25073 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
25074 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
25076 There should be no data returned.
25079 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
25081 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
25082 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
25084 There should be no data returned.
25087 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
25089 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
25090 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
25091 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
25093 There should be no data returned.
25096 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
25098 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
25099 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
25101 There should be no data returned.
25106 @node Error Messaging
25107 @subsubsection Error Messaging
25109 @findex nnheader-report
25110 @findex nnheader-get-report
25111 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
25112 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
25113 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
25114 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
25115 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
25116 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
25119 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
25121 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
25124 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
25125 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
25126 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
25127 takes one argument---the server symbol.
25129 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
25130 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
25131 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
25134 @node Writing New Back Ends
25135 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
25137 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
25138 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
25139 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
25140 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
25141 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
25144 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
25145 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
25146 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
25148 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
25149 package called @code{nnoo}.
25151 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
25152 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
25158 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
25159 parameters. For instance:
25162 (nnoo-declare nndir
25166 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
25167 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
25170 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
25171 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
25172 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
25174 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
25175 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
25176 a function in those back ends.
25179 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
25180 "Where nndir will look for groups."
25181 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
25184 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
25185 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
25186 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
25188 @item nnoo-define-basics
25189 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
25193 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
25197 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
25198 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
25199 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
25201 @item nnoo-map-functions
25202 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
25203 functions from the parent back ends.
25206 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
25207 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25208 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
25211 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
25212 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
25213 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
25214 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
25217 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
25218 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
25219 haven't already been defined.
25225 nnmh-request-newgroups)
25229 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
25230 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
25231 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
25236 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
25239 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
25240 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
25244 (require 'nnheader)
25248 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
25250 (nnoo-declare nndir
25253 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
25254 "Where nndir will look for groups."
25255 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
25257 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
25258 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
25261 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
25263 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
25264 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
25265 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
25267 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
25268 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
25270 ;;; Interface functions.
25272 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
25274 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
25275 (setq nndir-directory
25276 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
25278 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
25279 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
25280 (push `(nndir-current-group
25281 ,(file-name-nondirectory
25282 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
25284 (push `(nndir-top-directory
25285 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
25287 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
25289 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
25290 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25291 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
25292 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
25293 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
25297 nnmh-status-message
25299 nnmh-request-newgroups))
25305 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
25306 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
25308 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
25309 @findex gnus-declare-backend
25310 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
25311 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
25312 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
25314 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
25315 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
25320 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
25323 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
25325 The abilities can be:
25329 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
25331 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
25333 This back end supports both mail and news.
25335 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
25338 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
25339 articles and groups.
25341 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
25342 true for almost all back ends.
25343 @item prompt-address
25344 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
25345 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
25346 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
25350 @node Mail-like Back Ends
25351 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
25353 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
25354 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
25355 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
25356 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
25359 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
25360 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
25361 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
25364 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
25365 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
25368 This function takes four parameters.
25372 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
25375 @item exit-function
25376 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
25378 @item temp-directory
25379 Where the temporary files should be stored.
25382 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
25383 performed for one group only.
25386 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
25387 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
25388 find the article number assigned to this article.
25390 The function also uses the following variables:
25391 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
25392 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
25393 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
25394 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
25398 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
25399 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
25403 @node Score File Syntax
25404 @subsection Score File Syntax
25406 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
25407 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
25408 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
25410 Here's a typical score file:
25414 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
25421 BNF definition of a score file:
25424 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
25425 element = rule / atom
25426 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
25427 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
25428 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
25429 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
25431 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
25432 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
25433 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
25434 date-header = "date"
25435 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
25436 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25437 score = "nil" / <integer>
25438 date = "nil" / <natural number>
25439 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
25440 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
25441 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
25442 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
25443 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
25444 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25445 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
25446 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
25447 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
25448 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
25449 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
25450 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
25451 exclude-files / read-only / touched
25452 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
25453 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
25454 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
25455 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
25456 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
25457 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
25458 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
25459 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
25460 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
25461 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
25462 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
25463 eval = "eval" space <form>
25464 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
25467 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
25470 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
25471 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
25472 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
25473 one looong line, then that's ok.
25475 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
25476 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
25480 @subsection Headers
25482 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
25483 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
25484 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
25485 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
25487 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
25488 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
25489 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
25490 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
25491 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
25492 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
25493 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
25495 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
25496 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
25497 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
25498 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
25499 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
25501 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
25502 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
25508 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
25509 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
25511 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
25512 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
25513 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
25514 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
25516 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
25520 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
25523 is transformed into
25526 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
25529 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
25530 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
25533 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
25536 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
25537 is slightly tricky:
25540 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
25546 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
25549 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
25555 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
25562 and is equal to the previous range.
25564 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
25565 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
25566 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
25570 range = simple-range / normal-range
25571 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
25572 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
25573 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
25574 number *[ " " contents ]
25577 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
25578 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
25579 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
25580 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
25581 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
25586 @subsection Group Info
25588 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
25589 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
25590 describes the group.
25592 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
25593 second is a more complex one:
25596 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
25598 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
25599 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
25601 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
25604 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
25605 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
25606 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
25607 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
25608 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
25609 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
25610 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
25611 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
25612 this section is about.
25614 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
25615 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
25616 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
25618 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
25621 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
25622 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
25623 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
25624 group = quote <string> quote
25625 ralevel = rank / level
25626 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
25627 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
25628 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
25630 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
25631 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
25632 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
25633 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
25636 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
25637 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
25640 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
25641 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
25644 @item gnus-info-group
25645 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
25646 @findex gnus-info-group
25647 @findex gnus-info-set-group
25648 Get/set the group name.
25650 @item gnus-info-rank
25651 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
25652 @findex gnus-info-rank
25653 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
25654 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
25656 @item gnus-info-level
25657 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
25658 @findex gnus-info-level
25659 @findex gnus-info-set-level
25660 Get/set the group level.
25662 @item gnus-info-score
25663 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
25664 @findex gnus-info-score
25665 @findex gnus-info-set-score
25666 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
25668 @item gnus-info-read
25669 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
25670 @findex gnus-info-read
25671 @findex gnus-info-set-read
25672 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
25674 @item gnus-info-marks
25675 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
25676 @findex gnus-info-marks
25677 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
25678 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
25680 @item gnus-info-method
25681 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
25682 @findex gnus-info-method
25683 @findex gnus-info-set-method
25684 Get/set the group select method.
25686 @item gnus-info-params
25687 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
25688 @findex gnus-info-params
25689 @findex gnus-info-set-params
25690 Get/set the group parameters.
25693 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
25694 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
25696 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
25697 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
25698 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
25699 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
25702 @node Extended Interactive
25703 @subsection Extended Interactive
25704 @cindex interactive
25705 @findex gnus-interactive
25707 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
25708 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
25709 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
25712 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
25713 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
25718 The best thing to do would have been to implement
25719 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
25720 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
25721 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
25722 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
25723 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
25724 @code{interactive}.
25726 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
25731 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
25732 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
25736 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
25737 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
25738 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
25741 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
25745 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
25749 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
25755 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
25756 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
25760 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
25761 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
25762 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
25764 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
25765 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
25766 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
25767 Gnus, that's very useful.
25769 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
25770 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
25771 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
25772 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
25773 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
25774 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
25775 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
25776 following function:
25779 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
25783 (,function ,@@args))
25787 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
25788 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
25789 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
25792 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
25793 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
25794 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
25796 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
25797 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
25798 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
25801 @node Various File Formats
25802 @subsection Various File Formats
25805 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
25806 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
25810 @node Active File Format
25811 @subsubsection Active File Format
25813 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
25814 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
25817 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
25820 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
25821 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
25822 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
25823 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
25824 no.general 1000 900 y
25827 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
25830 active = *group-line
25831 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
25832 group = <non-white-space string>
25834 high-number = <non-negative integer>
25835 low-number = <positive integer>
25836 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
25839 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
25840 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
25843 @node Newsgroups File Format
25844 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
25846 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
25847 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
25848 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
25851 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
25852 Here's the definition:
25856 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
25857 group = <non-white-space string>
25859 description = <string>
25864 @node Emacs for Heathens
25865 @section Emacs for Heathens
25867 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
25868 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
25869 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
25870 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
25871 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
25872 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
25873 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
25877 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
25878 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
25883 @subsection Keystrokes
25887 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
25890 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
25893 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
25894 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
25895 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
25896 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
25897 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
25898 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
25900 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
25901 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
25902 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
25903 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
25904 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
25905 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
25906 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
25908 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
25909 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
25910 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
25911 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
25912 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
25913 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
25914 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
25916 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
25917 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
25918 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
25919 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
25920 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
25926 @subsection Emacs Lisp
25928 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
25929 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
25930 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
25931 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
25933 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
25934 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
25935 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
25936 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
25937 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
25938 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
25939 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
25942 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
25943 write the following:
25946 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
25949 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
25950 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
25951 you can go and fill your @file{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
25954 If you have put that thing in your @file{.emacs} file, it will be read
25955 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
25956 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
25957 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
25958 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
25960 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
25961 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
25962 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
25966 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
25970 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
25973 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
25974 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
25977 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
25980 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
25981 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
25984 @include gnus-faq.texi
26004 @c Local Variables:
26006 @c coding: iso-8859-1
26008 % LocalWords: BNF mucho detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
26009 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
26010 % LocalWords: nnmbox newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
26011 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
26012 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref