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4 @settitle Semi-gnus 6.10.029 Manual
9 @c * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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264 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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273 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97,98 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
275 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
276 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
277 are preserved on all copies.
279 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
280 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
281 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
282 permission notice identical to this one.
284 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
285 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
294 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
296 Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
298 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
299 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
300 are preserved on all copies.
303 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
304 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
305 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
306 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
309 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
310 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
311 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
312 permission notice identical to this one.
314 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
315 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
321 @title Semi-gnus 6.10.029 Manual
323 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
326 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
327 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
329 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
330 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
331 are preserved on all copies.
333 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
334 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
335 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
336 permission notice identical to this one.
338 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
339 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
348 @top The gnus Newsreader
352 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using gnus. The news
353 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
354 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
357 Semi-gnus provides MIME features based on SEMI API. So Semi-gnus
358 supports your right to read strange messages including big images or
359 other various kinds of formats. Semi-gnus also supports
360 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
361 API. So Semi-gnus does not discriminate various language communities.
362 Oh, if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
364 This manual corresponds to Semi-gnus 6.10.029.
375 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
376 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
378 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
379 being accused of plagiarism:
381 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
382 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
383 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
384 even read news with it!
386 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
387 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
388 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
389 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
390 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
397 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
398 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
399 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
400 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
401 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
402 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
403 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
404 * Various:: General purpose settings.
405 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
406 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
407 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
408 * Key Index:: Key Index.
412 @chapter Starting gnus
417 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
418 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
421 @findex gnus-other-frame
422 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
423 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
424 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
426 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
427 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
428 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
430 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
431 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
434 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
435 * The First Time:: What does gnus do the first time you start it?
436 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
437 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one gnus active at a time.
438 * Fetching a Group:: Starting gnus just to read a group.
439 * New Groups:: What is gnus supposed to do with new groups?
440 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
441 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
442 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
443 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
444 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
448 @node Finding the News
449 @section Finding the News
452 @vindex gnus-select-method
454 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
455 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
456 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
457 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are foreign
460 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
461 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
464 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
467 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
470 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
473 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
474 certainly be much faster.
476 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
478 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
479 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
480 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
481 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
482 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
483 that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an
484 @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
486 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
487 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
488 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
489 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
491 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
492 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
493 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
494 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
495 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
496 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting.
498 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
500 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
501 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
502 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
503 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
504 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
505 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
507 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
509 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
510 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
511 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
512 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
513 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
514 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
517 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
518 would typically set this variable to
521 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
526 @section The First Time
527 @cindex first time usage
529 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
530 be subscribed by default.
532 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
533 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
534 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
535 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
538 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
539 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
540 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
542 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
543 help you with most common problems.
545 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
546 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
550 @node The Server is Down
551 @section The Server is Down
552 @cindex server errors
554 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
555 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
556 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
558 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
559 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
560 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
561 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
562 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
563 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
564 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
566 @findex gnus-no-server
567 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
569 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
570 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
571 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
572 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
573 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
574 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
579 @section Slave Gnusae
582 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
583 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if
584 you are using the two different gnusae to read from two different
585 servers), that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
587 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
590 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
591 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and @dfn{slaves}.
592 (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have taken out a
593 copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in conjunction
594 with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to me. Usage of
595 the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer Applications})
596 will be much more expensive, of course.)
598 Anyways, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
599 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
600 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
601 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
602 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
603 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
604 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
605 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
607 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
608 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
611 @node Fetching a Group
612 @section Fetching a Group
613 @cindex fetching a group
615 @findex gnus-fetch-group
616 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
617 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
618 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
619 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
620 It takes the group name as a parameter.
628 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
629 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
630 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
631 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
632 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
633 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
634 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
635 @code{always}, then gnus will query the backends for new groups even
636 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
639 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
640 * Subscription Methods:: What gnus should do with new groups.
641 * Filtering New Groups:: Making gnus ignore certain new groups.
645 @node Checking New Groups
646 @subsection Checking New Groups
648 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
649 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
650 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
651 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
652 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
653 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
654 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
655 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
656 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
657 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
659 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
660 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
661 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
662 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
663 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't work.
664 I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server supports
665 @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't. You could
666 @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see whether it lists
667 @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If it does, then it
668 might work. (But there are servers that lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} without
669 supporting the function properly.)
671 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
672 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
673 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
674 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
675 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
676 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
679 @node Subscription Methods
680 @subsection Subscription Methods
682 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
683 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
684 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
686 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
687 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
689 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
693 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
694 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
695 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
696 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
697 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
699 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
700 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
701 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
702 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
704 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
705 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
706 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
708 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
709 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
710 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
711 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
712 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
713 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into it's
714 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
715 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
716 up. Or something like that.
718 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
719 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
720 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask you
721 about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe to
722 will be subscribed hierarchically.
724 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
725 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
730 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
731 A closely related variable is
732 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
733 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
734 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
735 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
738 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
739 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
740 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
741 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
744 @node Filtering New Groups
745 @subsection Filtering New Groups
747 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
748 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
749 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
752 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
755 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
756 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
757 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
758 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
759 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
760 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
761 subscribing these groups.
762 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
763 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
765 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
766 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
767 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
768 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
769 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
770 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
771 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
772 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
774 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
775 Yet another variable that meddles here is
776 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
777 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
778 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
779 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
780 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
781 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
782 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
783 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
785 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
786 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
789 @node Changing Servers
790 @section Changing Servers
791 @cindex changing servers
793 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
794 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
795 very flaky and you want to use another.
797 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
798 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
802 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
803 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
804 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
805 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
808 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
809 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
810 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
811 functions more than absolutely necessary.
813 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
814 @findex gnus-change-server
815 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
816 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
817 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
818 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
819 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
821 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
822 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
823 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
824 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
825 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
827 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
828 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
829 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
830 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
831 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
832 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
834 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
835 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
836 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
840 @section Startup Files
841 @cindex startup files
846 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
847 information is traditionally stored in this file.
849 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{GNUS}. In addition to
850 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
851 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
852 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
853 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{GNUS} would read whichever one of these
854 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
855 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
857 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
858 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
859 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
860 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
861 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
862 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
864 In addition, gnus does not change anything. Hail comrade Lars!
866 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
867 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
868 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
869 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
870 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
871 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
873 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
874 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
875 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
876 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
877 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
878 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
879 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
880 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
881 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
882 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
883 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
884 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
886 @vindex gnus-startup-file
887 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
888 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
889 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
891 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
892 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
893 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
894 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
895 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
896 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
897 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
898 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
899 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
900 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
903 (defun turn-off-backup ()
904 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
906 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
907 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
910 @vindex gnus-init-file
911 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
912 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
913 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
914 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
915 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
916 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
917 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
918 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
919 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
928 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
929 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
930 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
931 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
932 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
935 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
936 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file
939 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
940 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
941 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
943 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
944 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
945 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
946 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
947 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
948 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
950 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
951 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
952 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
955 @node The Active File
956 @section The Active File
958 @cindex ignored groups
960 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
961 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
962 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
964 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
965 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
966 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
967 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
968 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
969 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
970 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
973 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
974 @c if you set it to anything else.
976 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
978 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
979 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
980 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
982 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
983 you actually subscribe to.
985 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
986 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
987 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
988 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
990 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
991 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
992 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
993 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
994 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
995 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
997 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
998 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
999 @sc{nntp} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1000 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1001 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1002 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1004 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1005 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1007 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1008 secondary select methods.
1011 @node Startup Variables
1012 @section Startup Variables
1016 @item gnus-load-hook
1017 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1018 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1019 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1020 times you start gnus.
1022 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1023 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1024 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1026 @item gnus-startup-hook
1027 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1028 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1030 @item gnus-started-hook
1031 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1032 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1035 @item gnus-started-hook
1036 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1037 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1038 generating the group buffer.
1040 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1041 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1042 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1043 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1044 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1045 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1046 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1047 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1049 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1050 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1051 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1052 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1053 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1054 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1056 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1057 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1058 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1060 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1061 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1062 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1064 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1065 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1066 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1067 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1072 @node The Group Buffer
1073 @chapter The Group Buffer
1074 @cindex group buffer
1076 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1077 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1078 long as gnus is active.
1082 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1083 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1084 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1085 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1086 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1087 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1088 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1089 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1095 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1096 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1097 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1098 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1099 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1100 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1101 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1102 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1103 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1104 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1105 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1106 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1107 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1108 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1109 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1110 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1111 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1115 @node Group Buffer Format
1116 @section Group Buffer Format
1119 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1120 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1121 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1125 @node Group Line Specification
1126 @subsection Group Line Specification
1127 @cindex group buffer format
1129 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1130 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1132 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1135 25: news.announce.newusers
1136 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1141 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1142 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1143 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1144 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1146 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1147 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1148 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1149 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1150 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1151 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1153 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1155 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1156 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1157 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1158 never examined by gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1161 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1162 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1163 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1165 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1170 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1173 Whether the group is subscribed.
1176 Level of subscribedness.
1179 Number of unread articles.
1182 Number of dormant articles.
1185 Number of ticked articles.
1188 Number of read articles.
1191 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1192 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1195 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1198 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1207 Newsgroup description.
1210 @samp{m} if moderated.
1213 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1222 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1226 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1229 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1230 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1231 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1232 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1233 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.emacs.gnus}.
1236 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1238 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1242 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1246 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1247 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1248 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1249 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1250 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1251 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1256 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1257 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1258 group, or a bogus native group.
1261 @node Group Modeline Specification
1262 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1263 @cindex group modeline
1265 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1266 The mode line can be changed by setting
1267 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1268 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1272 The native news server.
1274 The native select method.
1278 @node Group Highlighting
1279 @subsection Group Highlighting
1280 @cindex highlighting
1281 @cindex group highlighting
1283 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1284 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1285 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1286 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1287 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1289 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1293 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-1
1294 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))))
1295 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-2
1296 '((t (:foreground "SeaGreen" :bold t))))
1297 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-3
1298 '((t (:foreground "SpringGreen" :bold t))))
1299 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-4
1300 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))))
1301 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-5
1302 '((t (:foreground "SkyBlue" :bold t))))
1304 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1305 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1306 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1307 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1308 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1309 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1312 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1314 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1321 The number of unread articles in the group.
1325 Whether the group is a mail group.
1327 The level of the group.
1329 The score of the group.
1331 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1333 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1334 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1336 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1337 topic being inserted.
1340 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1341 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
1342 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1344 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1345 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1346 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1347 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1348 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1351 @node Group Maneuvering
1352 @section Group Maneuvering
1353 @cindex group movement
1355 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1356 expected, hopefully.
1362 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1363 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1364 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1370 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1371 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1372 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1376 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1377 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1381 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1382 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1386 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1387 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1388 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1392 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1393 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1394 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1397 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1403 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1404 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1405 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1410 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1411 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1412 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1416 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1417 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1418 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1421 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1422 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1423 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1424 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1428 @node Selecting a Group
1429 @section Selecting a Group
1430 @cindex group selection
1435 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1436 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1437 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1438 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1439 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1440 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1441 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1442 determines the number of articles gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1443 positive, gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1444 negative, gnus fetches the @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1448 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1449 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1450 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1451 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1452 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1456 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1457 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1458 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1459 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1460 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1461 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1462 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1463 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1464 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1465 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1468 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1469 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1470 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1471 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1472 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1475 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1476 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1477 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1478 doing any processing of its contents
1479 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1480 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1481 manner will have no permanent effects.
1485 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1486 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what gnus should consider
1487 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1488 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
1489 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1490 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1491 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1492 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1495 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1496 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1497 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1498 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1503 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1504 full summary buffer.
1507 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1510 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
1515 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
1516 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
1517 Useful functions include:
1520 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
1521 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
1522 don't select the article.
1524 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
1525 Select the first unread article.
1527 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
1528 Select the highest-scored unread article.
1532 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1533 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1534 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1538 @node Subscription Commands
1539 @section Subscription Commands
1540 @cindex subscription
1548 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1549 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
1550 Toggle subscription to the current group
1551 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1557 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1558 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1559 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1560 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1566 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1567 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
1568 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1574 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1575 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1578 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1579 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1580 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1581 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1582 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1588 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1589 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1593 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1594 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1597 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1598 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1599 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1600 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1601 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1602 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1603 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1604 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1605 @file{.newsrc} file.
1609 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1619 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1620 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1621 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
1622 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1623 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1624 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group
1625 from the group buffer.
1629 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1630 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1631 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1635 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1636 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1637 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1639 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1640 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1641 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1642 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1643 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1644 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1651 @section Group Levels
1655 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1656 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1657 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1658 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1659 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1661 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1667 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1668 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1669 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1670 prompted for a level.
1673 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1674 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1675 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1676 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1677 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
1678 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1679 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1680 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1681 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1682 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
1683 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
1684 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
1685 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
1686 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
1687 reasons of efficiency.
1689 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1690 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1692 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1693 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1694 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1696 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1697 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1698 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1699 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1700 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1701 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1702 relevant valid ranges.
1704 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1705 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1706 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
1707 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1708 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1709 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1712 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1713 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1714 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1717 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1718 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1719 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1720 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1723 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1724 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1725 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1726 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1728 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1729 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
1730 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
1731 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
1732 to 5. The default is 6.
1736 @section Group Score
1741 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1742 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1743 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1746 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1747 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1748 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1749 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1750 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1751 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1752 part and the score is the least significant part.))
1754 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1755 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1756 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1757 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1758 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1759 action after each summary exit, you can add
1760 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1761 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1762 slow things down somewhat.
1765 @node Marking Groups
1766 @section Marking Groups
1767 @cindex marking groups
1769 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1770 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1771 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1772 bidding on those groups.
1774 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1775 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1776 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1784 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1785 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1791 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1792 Remove the mark from the current group
1793 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1797 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1798 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1802 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1803 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1807 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1808 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1812 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1813 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1814 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1817 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1819 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1820 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1821 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1822 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1823 the command to be executed.
1826 @node Foreign Groups
1827 @section Foreign Groups
1828 @cindex foreign groups
1830 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1831 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1832 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1833 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1840 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1841 @cindex making groups
1842 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1843 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1844 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1848 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1849 @cindex renaming groups
1850 Rename the current group to something else
1851 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
1852 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1858 @findex gnus-group-customize
1859 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1863 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1864 @cindex renaming groups
1865 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1866 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1870 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1871 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1872 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1876 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1877 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1878 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1882 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1884 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1885 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1890 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1891 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1895 @cindex (ding) archive
1896 @cindex archive group
1897 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1898 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1899 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1900 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1901 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1902 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1903 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1907 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1909 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1910 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1911 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1912 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1916 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1918 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
1919 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1920 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1924 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1925 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1927 Make a group based on some file or other
1928 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1929 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1930 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1931 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
1932 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, and @code{forward}. If you run
1933 this command without a prefix, gnus will guess at the file type.
1934 @xref{Document Groups}.
1938 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
1939 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
1940 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
1941 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
1945 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1950 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1951 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1952 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1953 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
1954 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1955 @xref{Web Searches}.
1957 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
1958 to a particular group by using a match string like
1959 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
1962 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1963 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1964 This function will delete the current group
1965 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1966 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1967 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1968 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
1969 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
1973 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1974 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1975 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
1979 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1980 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1981 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1984 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1987 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1988 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1989 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1990 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1991 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
1992 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
1996 @node Group Parameters
1997 @section Group Parameters
1998 @cindex group parameters
2000 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2001 Here's an example group parameter list:
2004 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2008 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing
2009 before the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value.
2010 All the parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs,
2011 which are not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2013 The following group parameters can be used:
2018 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2021 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2024 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2025 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2026 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2027 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2028 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2030 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2031 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2032 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2033 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2034 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2035 list address instead.
2039 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
2042 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2045 It is totally ignored
2046 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2047 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2049 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2050 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2051 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2052 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2053 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2055 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2056 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2057 sending the message.
2061 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2062 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2063 of whether it has any unread articles.
2065 @item broken-reply-to
2066 @cindex broken-reply-to
2067 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2068 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2069 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2070 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2071 broken behavior. So there!
2075 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2076 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2080 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2081 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2082 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2087 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2088 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2089 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2090 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2091 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2092 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2093 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2097 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2098 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2099 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2102 @cindex total-expire
2103 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2104 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2105 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2106 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2111 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2112 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2113 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2114 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2115 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2116 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2119 @cindex score file group parameter
2120 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2121 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2122 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2125 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2126 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2127 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2128 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2131 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2132 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2133 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2134 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2137 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2138 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2142 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2145 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2150 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2151 arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by gnus,
2152 but provide a place for you to store information on particular groups.
2155 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2156 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2157 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2159 @item @var{(variable form)}
2160 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2161 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2162 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2163 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2164 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2165 @code{eval}ed there.
2167 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2168 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2169 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2170 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2171 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2175 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2176 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2180 @node Listing Groups
2181 @section Listing Groups
2182 @cindex group listing
2184 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2192 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2193 List all groups that have unread articles
2194 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2195 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2196 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2197 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2204 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2205 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2206 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2207 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2208 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2209 unsubscribed groups).
2213 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2214 List all unread groups on a specific level
2215 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2216 with no unread articles.
2220 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2221 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2222 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2223 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2228 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2229 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2233 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2234 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2235 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2239 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2240 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2244 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2245 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2246 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2247 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2248 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2249 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2250 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2251 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2255 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2256 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2257 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2261 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2262 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2263 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2267 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2268 @cindex visible group parameter
2269 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2270 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2271 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2272 get the same effect.
2274 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2275 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2276 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2277 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2278 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2281 @node Sorting Groups
2282 @section Sorting Groups
2283 @cindex sorting groups
2285 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2286 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2287 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2288 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2289 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2290 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2295 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2296 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2297 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2299 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2300 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2301 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2303 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2304 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2305 Sort by group level.
2307 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2308 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2309 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2311 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2312 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2313 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2314 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2316 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2317 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2318 Sort by number of unread articles.
2320 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2321 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2322 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2327 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2328 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2332 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2333 some sorting criteria:
2337 @kindex G S a (Group)
2338 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2339 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2340 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2343 @kindex G S u (Group)
2344 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2345 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2346 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2349 @kindex G S l (Group)
2350 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2351 Sort the group buffer by group level
2352 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2355 @kindex G S v (Group)
2356 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2357 Sort the group buffer by group score
2358 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2361 @kindex G S r (Group)
2362 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2363 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2364 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2367 @kindex G S m (Group)
2368 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2369 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2370 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2374 All the commands below obeys the process/prefix convention
2375 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2377 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2378 commands will sort in reverse order.
2380 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2384 @kindex G P a (Group)
2385 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2386 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2387 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2390 @kindex G P u (Group)
2391 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2392 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2393 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2396 @kindex G P l (Group)
2397 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2398 Sort the groups by group level
2399 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2402 @kindex G P v (Group)
2403 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2404 Sort the groups by group score
2405 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2408 @kindex G P r (Group)
2409 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2410 Sort the groups by group rank
2411 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2414 @kindex G P m (Group)
2415 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2416 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
2417 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2423 @node Group Maintenance
2424 @section Group Maintenance
2425 @cindex bogus groups
2430 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2431 Find bogus groups and delete them
2432 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2436 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2437 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2438 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2439 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2440 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2444 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2445 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2446 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2447 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2450 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2451 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2452 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2453 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2458 @node Browse Foreign Server
2459 @section Browse Foreign Server
2460 @cindex foreign servers
2461 @cindex browsing servers
2466 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2467 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2468 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2469 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2472 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2473 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2474 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2475 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2477 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2482 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2483 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2487 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2488 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2491 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2492 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2493 Enter the current group and display the first article
2494 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2497 @kindex RET (Browse)
2498 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2499 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2503 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2504 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2505 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2511 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2512 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2516 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2517 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2518 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2523 @section Exiting gnus
2524 @cindex exiting gnus
2526 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
2531 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2532 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit
2533 gnus, but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure
2534 why this is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2538 @findex gnus-group-exit
2539 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
2540 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2544 @findex gnus-group-quit
2545 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files
2546 (@code{gnus-group-quit}). The dribble file will be saved, though
2547 (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2550 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2551 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2552 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
2553 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
2554 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2559 If you wish to completely unload gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2560 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2561 trying to customize meta-variables.
2566 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2567 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2568 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2574 @section Group Topics
2577 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2578 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2579 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2580 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2581 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2582 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2586 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
2587 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
2598 2: alt.religion.emacs
2601 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2603 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2604 13: comp.sources.unix
2607 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2609 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2610 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2611 is a toggling command.)
2613 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2614 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2615 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2616 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2619 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2620 the hook for the group mode:
2623 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2627 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2628 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2629 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2630 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2631 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2635 @node Topic Variables
2636 @subsection Topic Variables
2637 @cindex topic variables
2639 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2640 really neat, I think.
2642 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2643 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2644 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2657 Number of groups in the topic.
2659 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2661 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2664 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2665 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2666 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2669 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2670 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2672 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2673 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2674 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2677 @node Topic Commands
2678 @subsection Topic Commands
2679 @cindex topic commands
2681 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2682 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2683 definitions slightly.
2689 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2690 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2691 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2695 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2696 Move the current group to some other topic
2697 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2698 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2702 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2703 Copy the current group to some other topic
2704 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2705 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2709 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2710 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2711 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
2712 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
2713 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
2714 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
2715 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
2718 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2719 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2723 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2724 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2725 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2729 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2730 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2731 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2735 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
2736 Toggle hiding empty topics
2737 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
2741 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2742 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2743 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2746 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2747 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2748 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2749 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2753 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2755 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2756 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2757 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2758 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2759 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2760 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2764 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2766 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2767 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2768 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2769 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2772 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
2773 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
2774 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2775 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
2779 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2780 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2781 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2785 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2786 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2787 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2792 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2793 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2796 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2797 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2798 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2802 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2803 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2804 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2808 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2809 @cindex group parameters
2810 @cindex topic parameters
2812 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2813 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2819 @subsection Topic Sorting
2820 @cindex topic sorting
2822 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2828 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2829 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2830 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2831 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2834 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2835 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2836 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2837 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2840 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2841 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2842 Sort the current topic by group level
2843 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2846 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2847 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2848 Sort the current topic by group score
2849 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2852 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2853 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2854 Sort the current topic by group rank
2855 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2858 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2859 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2860 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2861 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2865 @xref{Sorting Groups} for more information about group sorting.
2868 @node Topic Topology
2869 @subsection Topic Topology
2870 @cindex topic topology
2873 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2879 2: alt.religion.emacs
2882 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2884 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2885 13: comp.sources.unix
2888 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2889 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2890 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2895 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2896 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2900 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2901 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2902 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2903 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2904 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2905 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2907 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2908 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2909 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2912 @node Topic Parameters
2913 @subsection Topic Parameters
2914 @cindex topic parameters
2916 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2917 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
2918 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2920 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2921 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2922 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2923 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2929 2: alt.religion.emacs
2933 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2935 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2936 13: comp.sources.unix
2940 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
2941 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
2942 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
2943 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
2944 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
2945 . "religion.SCORE")}.
2947 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
2948 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
2949 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
2950 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
2951 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
2953 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
2954 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
2955 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
2956 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
2957 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
2958 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
2959 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
2960 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
2963 @node Misc Group Stuff
2964 @section Misc Group Stuff
2967 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2968 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and gnus.
2969 * Group Timestamp:: Making gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
2970 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the gnus files.
2977 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
2978 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
2979 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
2983 @findex gnus-group-post-news
2984 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
2985 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
2989 @findex gnus-group-mail
2990 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
2994 Variables for the group buffer:
2998 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
2999 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3000 is called after the group buffer has been
3003 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3004 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3005 is called after the group buffer is
3006 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3009 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3010 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3011 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3012 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3014 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3015 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3016 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3017 whether they are empty or not.
3022 @node Scanning New Messages
3023 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3024 @cindex new messages
3025 @cindex scanning new news
3031 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3032 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3033 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3034 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3035 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3036 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3041 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3042 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3043 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3044 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3045 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3046 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3047 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3049 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3050 @cindex activating groups
3052 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3053 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3058 @findex gnus-group-restart
3059 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3060 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3061 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
3065 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3066 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3068 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3069 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3073 @node Group Information
3074 @subsection Group Information
3075 @cindex group information
3076 @cindex information on groups
3083 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3084 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3087 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3088 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3089 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3090 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3091 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3092 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3093 for fetching the file.
3095 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
3096 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3100 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3102 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3103 @cindex describing groups
3104 @cindex group description
3105 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3106 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3107 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3111 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3112 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3113 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3120 @findex gnus-version
3121 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3125 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3126 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3129 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3132 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3133 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3137 @node Group Timestamp
3138 @subsection Group Timestamp
3140 @cindex group timestamps
3142 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
3143 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3144 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3147 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3150 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3152 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3153 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3156 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3157 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3160 This will result in lines looking like:
3163 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3164 0: custom 19961002T012713
3167 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3168 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3172 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3173 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3178 @subsection File Commands
3179 @cindex file commands
3185 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3186 @vindex gnus-init-file
3187 @cindex reading init file
3188 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3189 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3193 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3194 @cindex saving .newsrc
3195 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3196 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3197 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3200 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3201 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3202 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3207 @node The Summary Buffer
3208 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3209 @cindex summary buffer
3211 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3212 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3214 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3215 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3217 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3220 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3221 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3222 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3223 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3224 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3225 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
3226 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3227 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3228 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3229 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3230 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3231 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3232 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3233 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3234 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3235 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3236 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3237 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3238 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3239 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3240 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3241 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3242 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3243 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3244 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3245 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3246 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3247 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3251 @node Summary Buffer Format
3252 @section Summary Buffer Format
3253 @cindex summary buffer format
3257 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3258 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3259 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3265 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3266 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3267 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3268 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3271 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3272 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3273 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3274 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3275 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3276 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
3277 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3278 fast, and too simplistic solution;
3279 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
3280 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
3281 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
3282 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
3283 other function instead:
3286 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3287 'mail-extract-address-components)
3290 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3291 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3292 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3293 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3296 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3297 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3299 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3300 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3301 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3302 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3303 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3305 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3307 The following format specification characters are understood:
3315 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3316 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3317 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3319 Full @code{From} header.
3321 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3323 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3324 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3326 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3327 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3328 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3329 may be more thorough.
3331 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3334 Number of lines in the article.
3336 Number of characters in the article.
3338 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3340 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3341 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3343 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3344 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3346 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3347 for adopted articles.
3349 One space for each thread level.
3351 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3356 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3357 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3361 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3363 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3364 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3365 default level. If the difference between
3366 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3367 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3375 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3377 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3383 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3384 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3386 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3387 article has any children.
3393 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3394 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3395 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3396 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3397 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3398 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3401 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3402 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
3403 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3404 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3405 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3406 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3408 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3409 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3411 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
3414 @node To From Newsgroups
3415 @subsection To From Newsgroups
3419 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
3420 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
3421 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
3422 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
3423 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
3427 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
3428 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
3429 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
3433 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3434 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
3437 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
3438 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
3441 @findex gnus-extra-header
3442 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
3443 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
3444 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
3447 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
3451 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3452 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
3453 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
3454 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
3455 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
3456 headers are used instead.
3460 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
3461 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
3462 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files.
3464 In summary, you'd typically do something like the following:
3467 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3469 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
3470 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
3471 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
3472 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3477 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3478 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3480 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3481 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
3482 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
3483 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3485 Here are the elements you can play with:
3491 Unprefixed group name.
3493 Current article number.
3495 Current article score.
3499 Number of unread articles in this group.
3501 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
3504 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3505 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3506 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3507 and no unselected ones.
3509 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3510 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3512 Subject of the current article.
3514 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
3516 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
3518 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3520 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3522 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3524 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3528 @node Summary Highlighting
3529 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3533 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3534 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3535 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3536 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3537 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3539 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3540 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3541 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3542 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3544 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3545 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3546 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
3547 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3549 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3550 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3551 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3552 list where the elements are of the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
3553 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
3554 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
3556 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3557 ((> score default) . bold))
3559 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3560 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
3564 @node Summary Maneuvering
3565 @section Summary Maneuvering
3566 @cindex summary movement
3568 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3569 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3571 None of these commands select articles.
3576 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3577 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3578 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3579 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3580 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3584 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3585 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3586 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3587 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3588 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3593 @kindex G j (Summary)
3594 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3595 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
3596 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3599 @kindex G g (Summary)
3600 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3601 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
3602 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3605 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3606 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3607 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3608 to the group buffer.
3610 Variables related to summary movement:
3614 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3615 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3616 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3617 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
3618 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3619 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3620 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
3621 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3622 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, gnus will select the
3623 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3624 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3625 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3626 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3627 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3629 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3630 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3631 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3632 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3633 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3634 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
3635 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
3637 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3639 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3640 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3641 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3642 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3643 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3645 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3646 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3647 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3648 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3649 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3650 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3651 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3652 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3655 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
3656 the given number of lines from the top.
3661 @node Choosing Articles
3662 @section Choosing Articles
3663 @cindex selecting articles
3666 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3667 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3671 @node Choosing Commands
3672 @subsection Choosing Commands
3674 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3675 and they all select and display an article.
3679 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3680 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3681 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3682 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3687 @kindex G n (Summary)
3688 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3689 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
3690 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3695 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3696 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
3697 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3702 @kindex G N (Summary)
3703 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3704 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3709 @kindex G P (Summary)
3710 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3711 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3714 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3715 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3716 Go to the next article with the same subject
3717 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3720 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3721 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3722 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3723 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3727 @kindex G f (Summary)
3729 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3730 Go to the first unread article
3731 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3735 @kindex G b (Summary)
3737 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3738 Go to the article with the highest score
3739 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3744 @kindex G l (Summary)
3745 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3746 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3749 @kindex G o (Summary)
3750 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3752 @cindex article history
3753 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3754 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3755 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3756 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
3757 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
3758 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
3762 @node Choosing Variables
3763 @subsection Choosing Variables
3765 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3768 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3769 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3770 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3771 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3772 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3773 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3775 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3776 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3777 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3778 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3780 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3781 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3782 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3783 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3784 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3785 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3786 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3787 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3788 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3789 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3790 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3791 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3792 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3793 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3798 @node Paging the Article
3799 @section Scrolling the Article
3800 @cindex article scrolling
3805 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3806 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3807 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3808 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3809 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3812 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3813 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3814 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3817 @kindex RET (Summary)
3818 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3819 Scroll the current article one line forward
3820 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3823 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
3824 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
3825 Scroll the current article one line backward
3826 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
3830 @kindex A g (Summary)
3832 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3833 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3834 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3835 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3836 the way it came from the server.
3841 @kindex A < (Summary)
3842 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3843 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3844 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3849 @kindex A > (Summary)
3850 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3851 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3855 @kindex A s (Summary)
3857 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3858 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3859 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3863 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
3864 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
3869 @node Reply Followup and Post
3870 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3873 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3874 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3878 @node Summary Mail Commands
3879 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3881 @cindex composing mail
3883 Commands for composing a mail message:
3889 @kindex S r (Summary)
3891 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3892 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
3893 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
3894 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3895 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3900 @kindex S R (Summary)
3901 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3902 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
3903 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3904 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3905 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3908 @kindex S w (Summary)
3909 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
3910 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
3911 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
3912 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
3913 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
3916 @kindex S W (Summary)
3917 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
3918 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
3919 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
3920 the process/prefix convention.
3923 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3924 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3925 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
3926 Forward the current article to some other person
3927 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3928 headers of the forwarded article.
3933 @kindex S m (Summary)
3934 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3935 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
3936 Send a mail to some other person
3937 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3940 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3941 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3942 @cindex bouncing mail
3943 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3944 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3945 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3946 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3947 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3948 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
3949 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3950 very well fail, though.
3953 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3954 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3955 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3956 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3957 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3958 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3959 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3960 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3961 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3962 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
3964 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3965 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
3966 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
3967 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
3968 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung mu
\e,A_
\e(B sein!
3970 This command understands the process/prefix convention
3971 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3974 @kindex S O m (Summary)
3975 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
3976 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
3977 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
3978 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3981 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
3982 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
3983 @cindex crossposting
3984 @cindex excessive crossposting
3985 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
3986 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
3988 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
3989 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
3990 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
3991 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
3992 command understands the process/prefix convention
3993 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
3997 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4000 @node Summary Post Commands
4001 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4003 @cindex composing news
4005 Commands for posting a news article:
4011 @kindex S p (Summary)
4012 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4013 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4014 Post an article to the current group
4015 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4020 @kindex S f (Summary)
4021 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4022 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4023 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4027 @kindex S F (Summary)
4029 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4030 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4031 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4032 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4033 process/prefix convention.
4036 @kindex S n (Summary)
4037 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4038 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4039 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4042 @kindex S N (Summary)
4043 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4044 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4045 message through mail and include the original message
4046 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4047 the process/prefix convention.
4050 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4051 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4052 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4053 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4054 headers of the forwarded article.
4057 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4058 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4060 @cindex making digests
4061 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4062 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4063 process/prefix convention.
4066 @kindex S u (Summary)
4067 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4068 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4069 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4070 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4073 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4076 @node Canceling and Superseding
4077 @section Canceling Articles
4078 @cindex canceling articles
4079 @cindex superseding articles
4081 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4082 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4084 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4086 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4088 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4089 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4090 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4091 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4092 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4093 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4095 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4096 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4099 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4100 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4101 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4103 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4104 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4105 your original article.
4107 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4109 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4110 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4111 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4114 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4115 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4116 have posted almost the same article twice.
4118 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4119 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4120 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4121 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4122 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4123 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4124 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4125 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4126 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4127 canceled/superseded.
4129 Just remember, kids: There is no `c' in `supersede'.
4132 @node Marking Articles
4133 @section Marking Articles
4134 @cindex article marking
4135 @cindex article ticking
4138 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4140 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4141 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4142 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4144 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4147 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4148 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4149 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4153 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4157 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4158 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4162 @node Unread Articles
4163 @subsection Unread Articles
4165 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4170 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4171 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4173 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4174 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4175 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4176 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4177 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4181 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4182 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4184 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4185 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4186 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4189 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4190 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4192 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4197 @subsection Read Articles
4198 @cindex expirable mark
4200 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4205 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4206 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4207 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4210 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4211 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4214 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4215 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4216 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4219 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4220 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4223 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4224 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4227 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4228 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4231 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4232 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4235 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4236 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4239 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4240 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4243 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4244 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4248 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4249 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4250 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4254 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4255 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4257 One more special mark, though:
4261 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4262 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4264 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4265 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4266 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4267 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at any time.
4272 @subsection Other Marks
4273 @cindex process mark
4276 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4282 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4283 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4284 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4285 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4286 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}
4289 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4290 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4291 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4292 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4295 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4296 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4297 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4300 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4301 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4302 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4303 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4306 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4307 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4308 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4309 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4310 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4313 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4314 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4315 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4316 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4317 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4318 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4322 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4323 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4324 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4326 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4327 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4328 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4332 @subsection Setting Marks
4333 @cindex setting marks
4335 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4340 @kindex M c (Summary)
4341 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4342 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4343 @cindex mark as unread
4344 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4345 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4351 @kindex M t (Summary)
4352 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4353 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4354 @xref{Article Caching}.
4359 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4360 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4361 Mark the current article as dormant
4362 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4366 @kindex M d (Summary)
4368 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4369 Mark the current article as read
4370 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4374 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4375 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4376 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4381 @kindex M k (Summary)
4382 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4383 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4384 and then select the next unread article
4385 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4389 @kindex M K (Summary)
4390 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4391 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4392 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4393 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4396 @kindex M C (Summary)
4397 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4398 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4399 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4402 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4403 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4404 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4405 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4408 @kindex M H (Summary)
4409 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4410 Catchup the current group to point
4411 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4414 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4415 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4416 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4417 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4420 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4421 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4422 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4423 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4427 @kindex M e (Summary)
4429 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4430 Mark the current article as expirable
4431 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4434 @kindex M b (Summary)
4435 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4436 Set a bookmark in the current article
4437 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4440 @kindex M B (Summary)
4441 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4442 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4443 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4446 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4447 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4448 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4449 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4452 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4453 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4454 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4455 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4458 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4459 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4460 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4461 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4462 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4465 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4466 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4467 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4468 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4469 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4470 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4471 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4472 The default is @code{t}.
4475 @node Setting Process Marks
4476 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4477 @cindex setting process marks
4484 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4485 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4486 Mark the current article with the process mark
4487 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4488 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4492 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4493 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4494 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4495 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4498 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4499 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4500 Remove the process mark from all articles
4501 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4504 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4505 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4506 Invert the list of process marked articles
4507 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4510 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4511 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4512 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
4513 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4516 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4517 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4518 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4521 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4522 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4523 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4524 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4527 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4528 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4529 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4530 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4533 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4534 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4535 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4536 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4539 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4540 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4541 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4544 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4545 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4546 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4547 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4550 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4551 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4552 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4555 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4556 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4557 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4558 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4561 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4562 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4563 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4564 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4567 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4568 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4569 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4570 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4573 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4574 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4575 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4576 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4585 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4586 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4587 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4590 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
4591 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
4592 additional articles.
4598 @kindex / / (Summary)
4599 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4600 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4601 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4604 @kindex / a (Summary)
4605 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4606 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4607 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4611 @kindex / u (Summary)
4613 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4614 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
4615 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4616 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4617 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4620 @kindex / m (Summary)
4621 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4622 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
4623 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4626 @kindex / t (Summary)
4627 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4628 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
4629 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4630 articles younger than that number of days.
4633 @kindex / n (Summary)
4634 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4635 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4636 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4637 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4640 @kindex / w (Summary)
4641 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4642 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4643 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4647 @kindex / v (Summary)
4648 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4649 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4650 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4654 @kindex M S (Summary)
4655 @kindex / E (Summary)
4656 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4657 Include all expunged articles in the limit
4658 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4661 @kindex / D (Summary)
4662 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4663 Include all dormant articles in the limit
4664 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4667 @kindex / * (Summary)
4668 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
4669 Include all cached articles in the limit
4670 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
4673 @kindex / d (Summary)
4674 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4675 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
4676 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4679 @kindex / T (Summary)
4680 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
4681 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
4684 @kindex / c (Summary)
4685 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4686 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
4687 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4690 @kindex / C (Summary)
4691 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4692 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4693 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4694 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4702 @cindex article threading
4704 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4705 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4706 hierarchical fashion.
4708 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
4709 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
4710 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
4711 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
4712 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
4713 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
4714 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
4716 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
4720 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
4723 A tree-like article structure.
4726 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
4729 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
4730 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
4731 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
4732 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
4733 called loose threads.
4735 @item thread gathering
4736 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
4738 @item sparse threads
4739 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
4740 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
4746 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4747 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4751 @node Customizing Threading
4752 @subsection Customizing Threading
4753 @cindex customizing threading
4756 * Loose Threads:: How gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
4757 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
4758 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
4759 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
4764 @subsubsection Loose Threads
4767 @cindex loose threads
4770 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4771 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4772 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4773 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4774 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4775 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4777 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
4778 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
4779 There are four possible values:
4783 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
4784 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
4785 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4786 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4787 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4792 @cindex adopting articles
4797 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4798 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4799 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4800 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4803 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4804 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4805 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4806 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4807 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4808 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4809 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4812 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4813 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4814 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4818 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4819 display them after one another.
4822 Don't gather loose threads.
4825 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4826 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4827 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4828 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
4829 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4830 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4831 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
4832 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4833 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4834 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
4835 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4837 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4838 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
4839 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
4842 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4843 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4844 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4845 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4846 simplification is used.
4848 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4849 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4850 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4851 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4853 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4855 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4861 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4862 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4863 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4864 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4869 (mapconcat 'identity
4870 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4872 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4875 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4878 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4879 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4880 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
4881 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
4882 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
4883 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
4885 Useful functions to put in this list include:
4888 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
4889 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
4890 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
4892 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4893 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4896 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
4897 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
4898 Remove excessive whitespace.
4901 You may also write your own functions, of course.
4904 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4905 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4906 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
4907 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
4908 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
4909 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
4910 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
4911 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
4913 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4914 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4915 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
4916 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
4917 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
4918 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
4919 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
4920 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
4921 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
4925 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4926 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4927 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
4928 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
4930 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4931 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4932 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
4935 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
4939 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4940 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
4946 @node Filling In Threads
4947 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
4950 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
4951 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
4952 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
4953 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
4954 like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
4955 many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
4956 @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
4957 number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
4958 old headers only works if the backend you are using carries overview
4959 files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
4960 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
4961 expired by the server, there's not much gnus can do about that.
4963 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
4964 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
4965 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
4967 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
4968 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
4969 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
4970 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
4971 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
4972 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
4973 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
4974 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
4975 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
4976 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
4977 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
4978 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
4979 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
4980 @code{nil} by default.
4985 @node More Threading
4986 @subsubsection More Threading
4989 @item gnus-show-threads
4990 @vindex gnus-show-threads
4991 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
4992 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
4993 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
4994 slower and more awkward.
4996 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4997 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4998 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5001 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5002 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5003 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5004 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5005 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5006 threads are expunged.
5008 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5009 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5010 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5013 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5014 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5015 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5016 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5017 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5020 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5021 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5022 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5028 @node Low-Level Threading
5029 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5033 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5034 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5035 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
5036 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
5037 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
5038 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
5040 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5041 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5042 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5043 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5044 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5045 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5046 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5047 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5048 meaningful. Here's one example:
5051 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5053 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5054 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5056 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5058 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5065 @node Thread Commands
5066 @subsection Thread Commands
5067 @cindex thread commands
5073 @kindex T k (Summary)
5074 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5075 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5076 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5077 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5078 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5083 @kindex T l (Summary)
5084 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5085 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5086 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5087 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5090 @kindex T i (Summary)
5091 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5092 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5093 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5096 @kindex T # (Summary)
5097 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5098 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5099 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5102 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5103 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5104 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5105 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5108 @kindex T T (Summary)
5109 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5110 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5113 @kindex T s (Summary)
5114 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5115 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5116 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5119 @kindex T h (Summary)
5120 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5121 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5124 @kindex T S (Summary)
5125 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5126 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5129 @kindex T H (Summary)
5130 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5131 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5134 @kindex T t (Summary)
5135 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5136 Re-thread the current article's thread
5137 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5138 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5141 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5142 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5143 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5144 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5148 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5149 understand the numeric prefix.
5154 @kindex T n (Summary)
5155 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5156 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5159 @kindex T p (Summary)
5160 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5161 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5164 @kindex T d (Summary)
5165 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5166 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5169 @kindex T u (Summary)
5170 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5171 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5174 @kindex T o (Summary)
5175 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5176 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5179 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5180 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5181 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5182 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5183 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5184 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5185 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5186 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5187 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5188 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5189 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5190 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5197 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5198 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5199 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5200 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5201 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5202 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5203 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5204 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5205 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which is a list of functions.
5206 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5207 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5208 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5209 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5210 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5212 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5213 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5214 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. If you use
5215 more than one function, the primary sort key should be the last function
5216 in the list. You should probably always include
5217 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5218 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5219 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5220 ascending article order.
5222 If you would like to sort by score, then by subject, and finally by
5223 number, you could do something like:
5226 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5227 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5228 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5229 gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score))
5232 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5233 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5234 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5235 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5236 which the articles arrived.
5238 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5242 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5244 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5245 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5248 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5249 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5250 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5251 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5254 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5255 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5256 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5257 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5258 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5259 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5260 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5261 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5262 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5263 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5264 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5265 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5266 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5268 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5272 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5273 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5274 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5279 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5280 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5281 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5282 @cindex article pre-fetch
5285 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5286 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5287 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5288 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5289 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5291 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5292 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
5294 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5295 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5296 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5297 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5298 connection is blocked.
5300 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5301 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5302 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5303 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
5305 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5306 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5307 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5308 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5311 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5314 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5315 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5316 happen automatically.
5318 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5319 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5320 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5321 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5322 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5323 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5324 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5326 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5327 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5328 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5329 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5330 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5331 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5332 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5333 data structure as the only parameter.
5335 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
5336 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5339 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5340 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5341 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5342 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
5345 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
5348 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
5349 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much. It's
5350 probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
5352 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
5353 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
5354 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
5355 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
5359 Remove articles when they are read.
5362 Remove articles when exiting the group.
5365 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
5367 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
5368 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
5369 @c from the next group.
5372 @node Article Caching
5373 @section Article Caching
5374 @cindex article caching
5377 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
5378 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
5379 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
5380 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
5381 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
5383 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
5385 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5386 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
5387 @vindex gnus-use-cache
5388 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
5389 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
5390 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
5391 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
5392 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
5394 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
5395 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
5396 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
5397 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
5398 as dormant, and don't worry.
5400 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
5402 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
5403 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
5404 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
5405 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
5406 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
5407 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
5408 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
5409 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
5410 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
5411 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
5413 @findex gnus-jog-cache
5414 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
5415 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
5416 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
5417 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
5418 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
5419 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
5420 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
5421 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
5422 not then be downloaded by this command.
5424 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
5425 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
5426 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
5427 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
5428 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
5429 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
5431 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
5432 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
5433 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
5434 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
5435 variables, the group is not cached.
5437 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
5438 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
5439 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
5440 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
5441 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
5442 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
5443 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
5444 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
5445 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
5449 @node Persistent Articles
5450 @section Persistent Articles
5451 @cindex persistent articles
5453 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
5454 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
5455 useful in my opinion.
5457 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
5458 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
5459 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
5460 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
5461 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
5462 the expiry going on at the news server.
5464 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
5465 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
5466 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
5472 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
5473 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
5476 @kindex M-* (Summary)
5477 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
5478 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
5479 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
5483 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
5485 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
5486 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
5487 interested in persistent articles:
5490 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
5494 @node Article Backlog
5495 @section Article Backlog
5497 @cindex article backlog
5499 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
5500 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
5501 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
5502 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5503 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5504 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5505 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
5506 increase memory usage some.
5508 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5509 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
5510 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5511 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
5512 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5513 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5514 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5516 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5519 @node Saving Articles
5520 @section Saving Articles
5521 @cindex saving articles
5523 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5524 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5525 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5526 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5527 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5529 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5530 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
5531 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5533 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5534 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5535 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5536 deleted before saving.
5542 @kindex O o (Summary)
5544 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5545 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
5546 Save the current article using the default article saver
5547 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5550 @kindex O m (Summary)
5551 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5552 Save the current article in mail format
5553 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5556 @kindex O r (Summary)
5557 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5558 Save the current article in rmail format
5559 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5562 @kindex O f (Summary)
5563 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5564 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
5565 Save the current article in plain file format
5566 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5569 @kindex O F (Summary)
5570 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5571 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5572 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5575 @kindex O b (Summary)
5576 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5577 Save the current article body in plain file format
5578 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5581 @kindex O h (Summary)
5582 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5583 Save the current article in mh folder format
5584 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5587 @kindex O v (Summary)
5588 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5589 Save the current article in a VM folder
5590 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5593 @kindex O p (Summary)
5594 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5595 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5596 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5599 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5600 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5601 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5602 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5603 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5604 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5605 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5606 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5607 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5608 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5609 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5610 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5614 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5615 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5616 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the four ready-made
5617 functions below, or you can create your own.
5621 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5622 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5623 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5624 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5625 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5626 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5627 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5629 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5630 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5631 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5632 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5633 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5634 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5636 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5637 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5638 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5639 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5640 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5641 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5642 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5644 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5645 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5646 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5647 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5648 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5650 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5651 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5652 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5653 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5654 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5657 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5658 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5659 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5660 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5661 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
5663 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5664 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5665 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5666 reader to use this setting.
5669 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5670 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5671 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5672 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5675 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5676 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5677 available functions that generate names:
5681 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5682 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5683 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5685 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5686 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5687 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5689 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5690 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5691 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5693 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5694 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5695 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5698 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5699 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp
5700 into the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would
5701 like to save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and
5702 articles related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable
5706 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5707 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5708 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5709 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5712 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5713 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5714 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5715 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5716 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5717 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5718 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5719 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5720 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5722 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5723 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5724 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5725 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5727 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5728 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5729 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file name.
5731 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
5732 lots of mail groups called things like
5733 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
5734 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
5735 following will do just that:
5738 (defun my-save-name (group)
5739 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
5740 (substring group (match-end 0))))
5742 (setq gnus-split-methods
5743 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
5748 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5749 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5750 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5751 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5752 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5753 all the files in the top level directory
5754 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5755 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5756 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5757 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5759 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5760 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5761 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5762 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5763 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5766 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5770 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5771 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5774 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5775 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5776 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5777 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5780 @node Decoding Articles
5781 @section Decoding Articles
5782 @cindex decoding articles
5784 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5785 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5788 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5789 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
5790 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5791 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
5792 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5793 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5797 @cindex article series
5798 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5799 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5800 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5801 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5802 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5804 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5805 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5806 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5808 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
5809 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5810 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5812 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5813 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5814 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5817 @node Uuencoded Articles
5818 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5820 @cindex uuencoded articles
5825 @kindex X u (Summary)
5826 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5827 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
5828 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5831 @kindex X U (Summary)
5832 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5833 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5834 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5837 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5838 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5839 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5842 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5843 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5844 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5845 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5849 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5850 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5851 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5852 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5853 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5855 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
5856 @sc{GNUS 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
5857 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
5858 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
5861 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
5862 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
5863 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
5864 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
5865 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
5866 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
5870 @node Shell Archives
5871 @subsection Shell Archives
5873 @cindex shell archives
5874 @cindex shared articles
5876 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
5877 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
5878 some commands to deal with these:
5883 @kindex X s (Summary)
5884 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
5885 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
5888 @kindex X S (Summary)
5889 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
5890 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
5893 @kindex X v s (Summary)
5894 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
5895 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
5898 @kindex X v S (Summary)
5899 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
5900 Unshars, views and saves the current series
5901 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
5905 @node PostScript Files
5906 @subsection PostScript Files
5912 @kindex X p (Summary)
5913 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
5914 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
5917 @kindex X P (Summary)
5918 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
5919 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
5920 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
5923 @kindex X v p (Summary)
5924 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
5925 View the current PostScript series
5926 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
5929 @kindex X v P (Summary)
5930 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
5931 View and save the current PostScript series
5932 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
5937 @subsection Other Files
5941 @kindex X o (Summary)
5942 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
5943 Save the current series
5944 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
5947 @kindex X b (Summary)
5948 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
5949 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
5950 doesn't really work yet.
5954 @node Decoding Variables
5955 @subsection Decoding Variables
5957 Adjective, not verb.
5960 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
5961 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
5962 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
5966 @node Rule Variables
5967 @subsubsection Rule Variables
5968 @cindex rule variables
5970 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
5971 variables are of the form
5974 (list '(regexp1 command2)
5981 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5982 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5984 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
5985 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
5988 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5989 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
5992 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5993 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5994 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
5995 user and default view rules.
5997 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5998 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5999 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6004 @node Other Decode Variables
6005 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6008 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6010 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6011 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6012 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6013 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6014 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6018 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6019 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6022 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6023 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6024 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6027 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6028 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6029 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6030 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6031 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6034 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6035 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6036 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6038 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6039 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6040 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6041 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6042 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6045 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6046 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6047 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6049 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6050 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6051 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6052 looking for files to display.
6054 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6055 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6056 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6059 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6060 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6061 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6064 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6065 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6066 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6069 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6070 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6071 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6074 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6075 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6076 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6077 decoded articles as unread.
6079 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6080 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6081 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6082 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6084 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6085 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6086 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6088 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6089 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6091 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6092 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6093 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6094 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6096 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6097 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6098 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6099 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6100 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6101 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
6102 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6103 simply dropped them.
6108 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6109 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6113 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6114 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6115 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6116 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6117 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6118 for you when you post the article.
6120 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6121 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6122 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6123 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6125 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6126 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6127 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6128 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6129 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6130 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6131 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6133 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6134 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6135 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6136 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6137 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6138 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6139 Default is @code{t}.
6145 @subsection Viewing Files
6146 @cindex viewing files
6147 @cindex pseudo-articles
6149 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
6150 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6151 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6152 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
6153 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6154 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6155 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6157 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6158 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6159 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6160 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6162 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6163 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6164 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6166 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6167 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6168 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6169 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6170 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6172 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6173 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6174 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6175 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6176 a list of parameters to that command.
6178 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6179 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6180 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6182 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6183 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6184 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6187 @node Article Treatment
6188 @section Article Treatment
6190 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6191 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6192 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6193 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6194 these articles easier.
6197 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6198 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6199 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6200 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6201 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6202 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6203 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6207 @node Article Highlighting
6208 @subsection Article Highlighting
6209 @cindex highlighting
6211 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6212 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6217 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6218 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6219 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6220 Do much highlighting of the current article
6221 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6222 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6224 Most users would prefer using @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight} in
6225 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}) instead.
6226 This is a bit less agressive---it highlights only the headers, the
6227 signature and adds buttons.
6230 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6231 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6232 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6233 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6234 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6235 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
6236 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6237 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6238 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6239 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6240 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6243 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6244 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6245 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6247 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6250 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6252 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6253 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6254 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6256 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6257 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6258 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6260 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6261 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6262 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6264 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6265 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6266 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6267 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6268 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6269 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6271 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6272 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6273 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6275 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6276 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6277 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6279 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6280 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6281 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6282 that it's a citation.
6284 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6285 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6286 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6288 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6289 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6290 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6292 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6293 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6294 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6295 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6301 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6302 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6303 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6304 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6305 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6306 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6307 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6308 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6313 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to highlight articles automatically.
6316 @node Article Fontisizing
6317 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6319 @cindex article emphasis
6321 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6322 @kindex W e (Summary)
6323 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6324 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*}. Gnus can make this look nicer by
6325 running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6326 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6328 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
6329 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6330 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
6331 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6332 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6333 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6334 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6335 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6339 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6340 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6341 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
6344 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
6345 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
6346 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
6347 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
6348 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
6349 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
6350 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
6351 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
6352 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
6353 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
6354 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
6355 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
6356 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
6358 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
6359 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
6360 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
6364 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
6367 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to fontize articles automatically.
6370 @node Article Hiding
6371 @subsection Article Hiding
6372 @cindex article hiding
6374 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
6375 too much cruft in most articles.
6380 @kindex W W a (Summary)
6381 @findex gnus-article-hide
6382 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
6383 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
6384 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
6387 @kindex W W h (Summary)
6388 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
6389 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
6393 @kindex W W b (Summary)
6394 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6395 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
6396 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
6399 @kindex W W s (Summary)
6400 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
6401 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
6405 @kindex W W p (Summary)
6406 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
6407 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6408 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
6409 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
6410 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
6411 articles that have signatures in them do:
6413 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
6415 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp)
6417 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
6418 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
6420 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6423 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
6428 @kindex W W P (Summary)
6429 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
6430 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
6431 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
6434 @kindex W W c (Summary)
6435 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
6436 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
6437 customizing the hiding:
6441 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6442 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6443 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6444 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6445 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
6446 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
6447 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
6452 Starting point of the hidden text.
6454 Ending point of the hidden text.
6456 Number of characters in the hidden region.
6458 Number of lines of hidden text.
6461 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
6462 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
6463 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
6468 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
6469 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
6471 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
6472 following two variables:
6475 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6476 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6477 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
6478 50), hide the cited text.
6480 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6481 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6482 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
6487 @kindex W W C (Summary)
6488 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
6489 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
6490 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
6491 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
6492 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
6496 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
6497 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
6498 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
6500 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
6501 citation customization.
6503 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to hide article elements
6507 @node Article Washing
6508 @subsection Article Washing
6510 @cindex article washing
6512 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
6513 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
6515 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
6516 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
6522 @kindex W l (Summary)
6523 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
6524 Remove page breaks from the current article
6525 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article} for page
6529 @kindex W r (Summary)
6530 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
6531 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
6532 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
6533 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
6534 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
6535 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
6537 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
6538 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
6539 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
6540 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
6543 @kindex W t (Summary)
6544 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
6545 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
6546 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
6549 @kindex W v (Summary)
6550 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
6551 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
6552 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
6555 @kindex W m (Summary)
6556 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
6557 Toggle whether to display the article as @sc{mime} message
6558 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
6561 @kindex W o (Summary)
6562 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
6563 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
6566 @kindex W d (Summary)
6567 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
6568 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
6570 @cindex M******** sm*rtq**t*s
6572 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s according to
6573 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
6574 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}).
6577 @kindex W w (Summary)
6578 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
6579 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}). If you use this
6580 function in @code{gnus-article-display-hook}, it should be run fairly
6581 late and certainly after any highlighting.
6583 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
6587 @kindex W c (Summary)
6588 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
6589 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
6590 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
6591 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
6592 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
6595 @kindex W f (Summary)
6597 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
6598 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
6599 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
6600 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
6606 Look for and display any X-Face headers
6607 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
6608 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
6609 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
6610 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
6611 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
6612 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
6613 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
6614 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
6615 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
6616 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
6617 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
6618 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
6619 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6623 @kindex W b (Summary)
6624 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6625 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6626 @xref{Article Buttons}.
6629 @kindex W B (Summary)
6630 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6631 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6632 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6635 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6636 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6637 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6638 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6641 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6642 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6643 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6644 lines with a single empty line.
6645 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6648 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6649 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6650 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6651 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6654 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6655 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6656 Do all the three commands above
6657 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6660 @kindex W E A (Summary)
6661 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
6662 Remove all blank lines
6663 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
6666 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6667 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6668 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6669 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6673 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to wash articles automatically.
6676 @node Article Buttons
6677 @subsection Article Buttons
6680 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6681 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6682 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
6683 button on these references.
6685 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6686 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6687 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6692 @item gnus-button-alist
6693 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6694 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6697 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6703 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6704 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
6705 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6708 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
6709 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
6710 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6713 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6714 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6715 avoid false matches.
6718 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6721 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6722 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6726 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6729 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6732 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6733 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6734 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6735 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6736 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6739 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6742 @var{HEADER} is a regular expression.
6744 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6745 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6746 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6747 default values of the variables above.
6749 @item gnus-article-button-face
6750 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6751 Face used on buttons.
6753 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
6754 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
6755 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
6759 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to buttonize articles automatically.
6763 @subsection Article Date
6765 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
6766 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
6767 when the article was sent.
6772 @kindex W T u (Summary)
6773 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
6774 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
6775 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
6778 @kindex W T i (Summary)
6779 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
6781 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
6782 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
6785 @kindex W T l (Summary)
6786 @findex gnus-article-date-local
6787 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
6790 @kindex W T s (Summary)
6791 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
6792 @findex gnus-article-date-user
6793 @findex format-time-string
6794 Display the date using a user-defined format
6795 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
6796 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
6797 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
6798 for a list of possible format specs.
6801 @kindex W T e (Summary)
6802 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
6803 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
6804 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
6805 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
6806 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). If you want to have this line
6807 updated continually, you can put
6810 (gnus-start-date-timer)
6813 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
6814 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
6818 @kindex W T o (Summary)
6819 @findex gnus-article-date-original
6820 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
6821 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
6822 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
6823 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
6824 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
6828 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to display the date in your
6829 preferred format automatically.
6832 @node Article Signature
6833 @subsection Article Signature
6835 @cindex article signature
6837 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6838 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
6839 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
6840 that says what is to be considered a signature is
6841 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
6842 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
6843 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
6844 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
6845 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
6848 (setq gnus-signature-separator
6849 '("^-- $" ; The standard
6850 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
6851 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
6852 ; line of dashes. Shame!
6853 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
6854 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
6855 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
6858 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
6861 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
6862 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
6867 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
6870 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
6873 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
6874 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
6876 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
6877 in question is not a signature.
6880 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
6881 listed above. Here's an example:
6884 (setq gnus-signature-limit
6885 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
6888 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
6889 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
6890 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
6891 signature after all.
6895 @section MIME Commands
6896 @cindex MIME decoding
6900 @kindex W M w (Summary)
6901 Decode RFC2047-encoded words in the article headers
6902 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
6905 @kindex W M c (Summary)
6906 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
6907 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
6909 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
6910 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
6911 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
6912 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
6913 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
6914 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
6917 @kindex W M v (Summary)
6918 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
6919 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
6926 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
6927 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
6928 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
6929 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
6932 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
6935 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
6942 @node Article Commands
6943 @section Article Commands
6950 @kindex A P (Summary)
6951 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
6952 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
6953 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
6954 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
6955 run just before printing the buffer.
6960 @node Summary Sorting
6961 @section Summary Sorting
6962 @cindex summary sorting
6964 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
6965 can't really see why you'd want that.
6970 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
6971 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
6972 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
6975 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
6976 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
6977 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
6980 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
6981 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
6982 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
6985 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
6986 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
6987 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
6990 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
6991 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
6992 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
6995 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
6996 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
6997 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
7000 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
7001 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
7002 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
7003 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
7004 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
7008 @node Finding the Parent
7009 @section Finding the Parent
7010 @cindex parent articles
7011 @cindex referring articles
7016 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
7017 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
7018 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
7019 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
7020 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
7021 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
7022 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
7023 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
7024 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
7026 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
7027 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
7028 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
7029 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
7030 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
7034 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
7035 @kindex A R (Summary)
7036 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
7037 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
7040 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
7041 @kindex A T (Summary)
7042 Display the full thread where the current article appears
7043 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
7044 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
7045 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
7046 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
7047 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
7048 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
7050 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
7051 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
7052 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
7053 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
7054 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
7055 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
7058 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
7059 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
7061 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
7062 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
7063 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
7064 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
7065 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
7066 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
7067 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
7070 The current select method will be used when fetching by
7071 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
7072 by giving this command a prefix.
7074 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
7075 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
7076 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
7077 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
7078 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
7079 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
7082 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
7083 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
7084 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
7085 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
7086 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
7087 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
7090 @node Alternative Approaches
7091 @section Alternative Approaches
7093 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
7094 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
7097 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
7098 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
7103 @subsection Pick and Read
7104 @cindex pick and read
7106 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
7107 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
7108 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
7109 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
7111 @findex gnus-pick-mode
7112 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
7113 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
7114 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
7115 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
7116 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
7118 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
7123 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
7124 Pick the article or thread on the current line
7125 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7126 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
7127 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
7128 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
7129 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
7130 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
7133 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
7134 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
7135 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
7136 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
7140 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
7141 Unpick the thread or article
7142 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7143 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
7144 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
7145 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
7146 the thread or article at that line.
7150 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
7151 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
7152 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
7153 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
7154 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
7155 will still be visible when you are reading.
7159 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
7160 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
7161 which is mapped to the same function
7162 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
7164 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
7167 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
7170 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
7171 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
7173 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
7174 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
7175 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
7177 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
7178 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
7179 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
7180 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
7181 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
7182 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
7183 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
7187 @subsection Binary Groups
7188 @cindex binary groups
7190 @findex gnus-binary-mode
7191 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
7192 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
7193 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
7194 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
7195 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
7196 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
7199 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
7200 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
7201 command, when you have turned on this mode
7202 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
7204 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
7205 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
7209 @section Tree Display
7212 @vindex gnus-use-trees
7213 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
7214 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
7215 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
7218 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
7221 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
7222 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
7223 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
7225 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7226 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7227 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
7228 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
7229 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
7231 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
7232 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
7233 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
7234 default is @code{modeline}.
7236 @item gnus-tree-line-format
7237 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
7238 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
7239 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
7240 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
7241 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
7242 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
7248 The name of the poster.
7250 The @code{From} header.
7252 The number of the article.
7254 The opening bracket.
7256 The closing bracket.
7261 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7263 Variables related to the display are:
7266 @item gnus-tree-brackets
7267 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
7268 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
7269 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
7270 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
7271 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
7273 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7274 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7275 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
7276 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
7280 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
7281 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
7282 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
7283 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
7284 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
7285 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
7286 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
7287 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
7288 other windows displayed next to it.
7290 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
7291 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
7292 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7293 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
7294 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
7295 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
7296 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
7300 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
7303 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
7313 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
7317 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
7318 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
7320 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
7322 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
7327 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
7328 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
7329 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
7332 (setq gnus-use-trees t
7333 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7334 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
7335 (gnus-add-configuration
7339 (summary 0.75 point)
7344 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
7347 @node Mail Group Commands
7348 @section Mail Group Commands
7349 @cindex mail group commands
7351 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
7352 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
7354 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
7355 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7360 @kindex B e (Summary)
7361 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
7362 Expire all expirable articles in the group
7363 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
7366 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
7367 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
7368 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
7369 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
7370 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
7371 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
7374 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
7375 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
7376 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
7377 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
7378 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
7379 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
7382 @kindex B m (Summary)
7384 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
7385 Move the article from one mail group to another
7386 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7389 @kindex B c (Summary)
7391 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
7392 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
7393 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
7394 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
7397 @kindex B B (Summary)
7398 @cindex crosspost mail
7399 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
7400 Crosspost the current article to some other group
7401 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
7402 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
7403 be properly updated.
7406 @kindex B i (Summary)
7407 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
7408 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
7409 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
7410 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
7413 @kindex B r (Summary)
7414 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
7415 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
7416 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
7417 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
7418 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
7422 @kindex B w (Summary)
7424 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
7425 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
7426 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
7427 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
7428 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
7429 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
7432 @kindex B q (Summary)
7433 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
7434 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
7435 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
7436 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
7439 @kindex B t (Summary)
7440 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
7441 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
7442 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
7445 @kindex B p (Summary)
7446 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
7447 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
7448 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
7449 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
7450 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
7451 article from your news server (or rather, from
7452 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
7453 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
7454 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
7455 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
7456 just not have arrived yet.
7460 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
7461 @cindex moving articles
7462 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
7463 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
7464 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
7465 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
7466 suggestions you find reasonable.
7469 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
7470 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
7471 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
7472 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
7476 @node Various Summary Stuff
7477 @section Various Summary Stuff
7480 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
7481 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
7482 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
7483 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
7487 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
7488 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
7489 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
7491 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
7492 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
7493 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
7494 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
7495 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
7496 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
7499 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7500 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7501 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
7502 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
7503 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
7505 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7506 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7507 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
7510 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7511 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7512 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
7513 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
7514 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
7515 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
7516 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
7517 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
7518 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
7519 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
7524 @node Summary Group Information
7525 @subsection Summary Group Information
7530 @kindex H f (Summary)
7531 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
7532 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
7533 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
7534 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
7535 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
7536 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
7537 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
7538 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
7539 be used for fetching the file.
7542 @kindex H d (Summary)
7543 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
7544 Give a brief description of the current group
7545 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
7546 rereading the description from the server.
7549 @kindex H h (Summary)
7550 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
7551 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
7552 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
7555 @kindex H i (Summary)
7556 @findex gnus-info-find-node
7557 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
7561 @node Searching for Articles
7562 @subsection Searching for Articles
7567 @kindex M-s (Summary)
7568 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
7569 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
7570 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
7573 @kindex M-r (Summary)
7574 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
7575 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
7576 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
7580 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
7581 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
7582 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
7583 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
7587 @kindex M-& (Summary)
7588 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
7589 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
7590 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
7593 @node Summary Generation Commands
7594 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
7599 @kindex Y g (Summary)
7600 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
7601 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
7604 @kindex Y c (Summary)
7605 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
7606 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
7607 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
7612 @node Really Various Summary Commands
7613 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
7618 @kindex C-d (Summary)
7619 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
7620 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
7621 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
7622 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
7623 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
7624 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
7625 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
7626 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
7630 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
7631 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
7632 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
7633 several documents into one biiig group
7634 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
7635 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
7636 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
7637 command understands the process/prefix convention
7638 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7641 @kindex C-t (Summary)
7642 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
7643 Toggle truncation of summary lines
7644 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
7645 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
7646 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
7650 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
7651 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
7652 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
7655 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
7656 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
7657 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7658 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
7663 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
7664 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
7665 @cindex summary exit
7666 @cindex exiting groups
7668 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
7669 group and return you to the group buffer.
7675 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
7677 @findex gnus-summary-exit
7678 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
7679 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
7680 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
7681 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
7682 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
7683 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
7684 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
7685 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
7686 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
7687 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
7691 @kindex Z E (Summary)
7693 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
7694 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
7695 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
7699 @kindex Z c (Summary)
7701 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
7702 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
7703 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
7704 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
7707 @kindex Z C (Summary)
7708 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
7709 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
7710 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
7713 @kindex Z n (Summary)
7714 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
7715 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
7716 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
7719 @kindex Z R (Summary)
7720 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
7721 Exit this group, and then enter it again
7722 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
7723 all articles, both read and unread.
7727 @kindex Z G (Summary)
7728 @kindex M-g (Summary)
7729 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
7730 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
7731 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
7732 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
7733 articles, both read and unread.
7736 @kindex Z N (Summary)
7737 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
7738 Exit the group and go to the next group
7739 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
7742 @kindex Z P (Summary)
7743 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
7744 Exit the group and go to the previous group
7745 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
7748 @kindex Z s (Summary)
7749 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
7750 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
7751 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
7752 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
7753 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
7756 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
7757 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
7760 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
7761 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
7762 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
7763 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
7764 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
7765 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
7766 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
7767 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
7768 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
7769 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
7770 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
7771 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
7773 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
7775 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
7776 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
7777 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
7778 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
7779 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
7780 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
7781 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
7782 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
7783 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
7786 @node Crosspost Handling
7787 @section Crosspost Handling
7791 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
7792 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
7793 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
7794 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
7795 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
7796 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
7799 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
7800 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
7801 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
7802 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
7803 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
7805 @cindex cross-posting
7808 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
7809 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
7810 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
7811 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
7812 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
7813 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
7814 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
7815 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
7816 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
7817 the cross reference mechanism.
7819 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
7820 @cindex overview.fmt
7821 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
7822 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
7823 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
7824 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
7825 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
7826 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
7829 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
7830 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
7831 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
7836 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
7839 @node Duplicate Suppression
7840 @section Duplicate Suppression
7842 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
7843 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
7844 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
7845 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various reasons.
7849 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
7850 is evil and not very common.
7853 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
7854 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
7857 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
7858 different @sc{nntp} servers.
7861 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
7864 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
7865 well, but these four are the most common situations.
7867 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
7868 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
7869 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
7870 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
7871 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
7872 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
7873 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
7876 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
7877 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
7878 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
7879 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
7880 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
7884 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
7885 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
7886 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
7888 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
7889 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
7890 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
7891 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
7892 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
7893 session are suppressed.
7895 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
7896 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
7897 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
7898 suppression list. The default is 10000.
7900 @item gnus-duplicate-file
7901 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
7902 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
7903 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
7906 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
7907 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
7908 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
7909 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
7910 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
7911 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
7912 to you to figure out, I think.
7915 @node The Article Buffer
7916 @chapter The Article Buffer
7917 @cindex article buffer
7919 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
7920 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
7921 tell gnus otherwise.
7924 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
7925 * Using MIME:: Pushing to mime articles as @sc{mime} messages.
7926 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
7927 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
7928 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
7932 @node Hiding Headers
7933 @section Hiding Headers
7934 @cindex hiding headers
7935 @cindex deleting headers
7937 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
7938 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
7940 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
7941 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
7942 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
7943 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
7944 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
7945 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
7946 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
7947 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
7948 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
7950 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
7954 @item gnus-visible-headers
7955 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
7956 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
7957 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
7958 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
7960 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
7961 the article and the subject, you'd say:
7964 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
7967 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
7970 @item gnus-ignored-headers
7971 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
7972 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
7973 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
7974 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
7975 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
7977 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
7978 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
7981 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
7984 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
7987 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
7988 variable will have no effect.
7992 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
7993 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
7994 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
7995 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
7996 the headers are to be displayed.
7998 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
7999 and then the subject, you might say something like:
8002 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
8005 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
8006 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed
8009 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8010 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
8011 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
8012 You can hide further boring headers by entering
8013 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
8014 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
8015 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
8016 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
8017 @dfn{boring conditions} that gnus can check and remove from sight.
8019 These conditions are:
8022 Remove all empty headers.
8024 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
8025 @code{Newsgroups} header.
8027 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
8030 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
8033 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
8036 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
8038 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
8041 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
8044 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
8045 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
8048 This is also the default value for this variable.
8052 @section Using @sc{mime}
8055 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
8056 while people stand around yawning.
8058 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
8059 while all newsreaders die of fear.
8061 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
8062 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
8063 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
8065 @vindex gnus-show-mime
8066 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
8067 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
8068 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
8069 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
8070 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
8071 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
8072 calls the SEMI MIME-View program to actually do the work. For more
8073 information on SEMI MIME-View, see its manual page (however it is not
8074 existed yet, sorry).
8076 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
8077 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
8078 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
8079 @sc{mime} headers in the article. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime}
8080 set, then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article
8081 buffer. These can't be avoided.
8083 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
8084 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
8085 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
8086 @sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
8087 sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find
8088 the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to
8089 look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
8090 can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
8091 room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
8094 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
8096 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
8097 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
8098 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
8099 buffer when there are nobody else.
8102 @node Customizing Articles
8103 @section Customizing Articles
8104 @cindex article customization
8106 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
8107 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
8108 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
8109 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
8111 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
8112 @findex gnus-article-maybe-hide-headers
8113 By default this hook just contains
8114 @code{gnus-article-maybe-hide-headers},
8115 @code{gnus-hide-boring-headers}, @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike},
8116 and @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight} (and under XEmacs,
8117 @code{gnus-article-display-x-face}), but there are thousands, nay
8118 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
8119 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
8120 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
8121 Date}. Note that the order of functions in this hook might affect
8122 things, so you may have to fiddle a bit to get the desired results.
8124 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
8125 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
8126 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
8127 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
8128 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
8131 @node Article Keymap
8132 @section Article Keymap
8134 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
8135 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
8136 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
8137 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
8140 A few additional keystrokes are available:
8145 @kindex SPACE (Article)
8146 @findex gnus-article-next-page
8147 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
8150 @kindex DEL (Article)
8151 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
8152 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
8155 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
8156 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
8157 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
8158 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
8159 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
8162 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
8163 @findex gnus-article-mail
8164 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
8165 given a prefix, include the mail.
8169 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
8170 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
8171 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
8175 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
8176 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
8177 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
8180 @kindex TAB (Article)
8181 @findex gnus-article-next-button
8182 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
8183 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
8186 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
8187 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
8188 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
8194 @section Misc Article
8198 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
8199 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
8200 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
8201 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
8204 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
8205 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
8207 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
8208 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
8210 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
8211 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
8212 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
8213 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
8214 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
8215 the contents of the article buffer.
8217 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
8218 @item gnus-article-display-hook
8219 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
8220 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
8221 hiding headers, and the like.
8223 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
8224 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
8225 Hook called in article mode buffers.
8227 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8228 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8229 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
8230 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
8232 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
8233 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
8234 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
8235 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
8236 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with one
8241 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
8242 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
8246 @vindex gnus-break-pages
8248 @item gnus-break-pages
8249 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
8250 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
8251 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
8252 paging will not be done.
8254 @item gnus-page-delimiter
8255 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
8256 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
8261 @node Composing Messages
8262 @chapter Composing Messages
8263 @cindex composing messages
8266 @cindex sending mail
8271 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
8272 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
8273 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
8274 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
8275 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
8276 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
8277 to make gnus try to post using the foreign server.
8280 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
8281 * Post:: Posting and following up.
8282 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
8283 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
8284 * Archived Messages:: Where gnus stores the messages you've sent.
8285 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
8286 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
8287 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
8290 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
8291 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
8297 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
8300 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
8301 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
8302 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
8303 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
8305 @item gnus-add-to-list
8306 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
8307 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
8308 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
8316 Variables for composing news articles:
8319 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8320 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8321 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
8322 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
8323 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
8324 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
8325 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
8326 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
8327 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want gnus to keep a history
8330 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8331 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8332 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
8333 file. It is 1000 by default.
8338 @node Posting Server
8339 @section Posting Server
8341 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
8342 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
8344 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
8346 @vindex gnus-post-method
8348 It can be quite complicated. Normally, gnus will use the same native
8349 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
8350 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
8351 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
8352 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
8355 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
8358 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
8359 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
8360 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
8361 the ``current'' server for posting.
8363 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
8364 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
8366 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
8367 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
8370 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
8371 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
8372 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
8377 @section Mail and Post
8379 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
8383 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
8384 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
8385 @cindex mailing lists
8387 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
8388 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
8389 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
8390 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
8391 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
8392 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
8393 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
8394 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
8395 still a pain, though.
8399 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
8400 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
8401 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
8404 @findex ispell-message
8406 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
8410 @node Archived Messages
8411 @section Archived Messages
8412 @cindex archived messages
8413 @cindex sent messages
8415 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
8416 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
8417 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
8418 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
8421 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
8422 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
8423 use to store sent messages. The default is:
8427 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
8428 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
8429 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
8430 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
8433 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
8434 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
8435 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
8436 directory chosen, you could say something like:
8439 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
8440 '(nnfolder "archive"
8441 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
8442 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
8443 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
8446 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
8448 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
8449 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
8450 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
8452 This variable can be used to do the following:
8456 Messages will be saved in that group.
8457 @item a list of strings
8458 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
8459 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
8460 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
8462 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
8467 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
8469 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
8472 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
8474 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
8477 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
8479 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8480 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
8481 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
8482 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
8487 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8488 '((if (message-news-p)
8493 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
8494 messages in one file per month:
8497 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8498 '((if (message-news-p)
8500 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
8501 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
8504 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
8505 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
8507 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
8508 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
8509 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
8510 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
8511 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
8512 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
8513 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
8514 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
8515 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
8516 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
8518 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
8519 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
8520 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
8521 this will disable archiving.
8524 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
8525 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
8526 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
8527 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
8528 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
8531 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
8532 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
8533 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
8536 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
8537 but the latter is the preferred method.
8541 @node Posting Styles
8542 @section Posting Styles
8543 @cindex posting styles
8546 All them variables, they make my head swim.
8548 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
8549 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
8550 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
8553 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
8554 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
8555 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
8556 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
8557 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
8562 (signature "Peace and happiness")
8563 (organization "What me?"))
8565 (signature "Death to everybody"))
8566 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
8567 (organization "Emacs is it")))
8570 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
8571 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
8572 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
8573 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
8574 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
8575 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
8576 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
8577 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
8579 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
8580 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
8581 If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
8582 arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
8583 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
8584 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
8587 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
8588 attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
8589 can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
8590 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
8591 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
8592 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
8595 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
8596 return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
8597 list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
8599 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
8600 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
8601 of the two dynamically bound variables @code{message-this-is-news} and
8602 @code{message-this-is-mail}.
8604 @vindex message-this-is-mail
8605 @vindex message-this-is-news
8607 So here's a new example:
8610 (setq gnus-posting-styles
8612 (signature-file "~/.signature")
8614 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
8615 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
8617 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
8618 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
8619 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
8620 (message-this-is-news
8621 (signature my-news-signature))
8622 (posting-from-work-p
8623 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
8624 (address "user@@bar.foo")
8625 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
8626 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
8628 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
8636 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
8637 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
8638 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
8639 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
8640 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
8642 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
8643 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
8644 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
8645 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
8646 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
8650 @vindex nndraft-directory
8651 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
8652 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
8653 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
8654 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
8655 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
8656 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
8658 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
8659 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
8662 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
8663 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
8664 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
8665 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
8666 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
8667 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
8668 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
8669 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
8670 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
8671 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
8672 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
8673 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
8674 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
8675 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
8677 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
8678 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
8679 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
8681 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
8683 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
8684 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
8685 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
8687 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
8690 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
8691 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
8692 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
8693 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
8694 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
8695 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
8696 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
8699 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
8700 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
8701 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
8704 @node Rejected Articles
8705 @section Rejected Articles
8706 @cindex rejected articles
8708 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
8709 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
8710 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
8711 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
8713 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
8714 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
8715 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
8716 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
8717 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
8719 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
8720 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
8721 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
8724 @node Select Methods
8725 @chapter Select Methods
8726 @cindex foreign groups
8727 @cindex select methods
8729 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
8730 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
8731 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
8732 personal mail group.
8734 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
8735 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
8736 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
8737 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
8738 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
8739 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
8741 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
8742 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
8744 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
8747 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
8748 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
8749 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
8750 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
8751 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
8753 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
8756 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
8757 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
8758 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
8759 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
8760 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
8761 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
8765 @node The Server Buffer
8766 @section The Server Buffer
8768 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
8769 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
8770 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
8771 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
8772 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
8773 backend represents a virtual server.
8775 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
8776 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
8777 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
8778 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
8780 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
8781 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
8782 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
8783 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
8784 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
8785 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
8786 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
8788 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
8789 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
8792 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
8793 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
8794 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
8795 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
8796 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
8797 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
8798 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
8801 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
8802 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
8805 @node Server Buffer Format
8806 @subsection Server Buffer Format
8807 @cindex server buffer format
8809 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
8810 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
8811 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
8812 variable, with some simple extensions:
8817 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
8820 The name of this server.
8823 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
8826 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
8829 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
8830 The mode line can also be customized by using the
8831 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
8832 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
8842 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
8845 @node Server Commands
8846 @subsection Server Commands
8847 @cindex server commands
8853 @findex gnus-server-add-server
8854 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
8858 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
8859 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
8862 @kindex SPACE (Server)
8863 @findex gnus-server-read-server
8864 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
8868 @findex gnus-server-exit
8869 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
8873 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
8874 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
8878 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
8879 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
8883 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
8884 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
8888 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
8889 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
8893 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
8894 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
8895 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
8900 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
8901 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
8902 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
8903 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
8908 @node Example Methods
8909 @subsection Example Methods
8911 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
8914 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
8917 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
8923 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
8924 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
8927 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
8928 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
8930 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
8931 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
8935 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
8938 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
8939 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
8941 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
8942 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
8943 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
8947 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
8950 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
8953 Here's the method for a public spool:
8957 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
8958 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
8961 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
8962 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
8963 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
8964 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
8965 should probably look something like this:
8969 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
8970 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
8971 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
8972 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
8973 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
8976 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
8977 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
8978 server that would look something like this:
8982 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
8983 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
8984 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
8985 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
8986 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
8987 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
8990 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
8991 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
8992 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
8993 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
8996 @node Creating a Virtual Server
8997 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
8999 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
9000 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
9002 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
9003 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
9004 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
9006 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
9008 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
9009 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
9010 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
9011 will contain the following:
9021 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
9022 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
9023 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
9026 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
9027 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
9028 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
9031 @node Server Variables
9032 @subsection Server Variables
9034 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
9035 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
9036 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
9037 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
9038 won't change the "derived" variables.
9040 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
9041 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
9042 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
9043 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
9044 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
9045 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
9046 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
9047 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
9048 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
9052 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
9053 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
9054 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
9058 @node Servers and Methods
9059 @subsection Servers and Methods
9061 Wherever you would normally use a select method
9062 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
9063 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
9064 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
9068 @node Unavailable Servers
9069 @subsection Unavailable Servers
9071 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
9072 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
9073 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
9074 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
9075 actually the case or not.
9077 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
9078 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
9079 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
9080 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
9081 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
9082 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
9083 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
9084 it will regard that server as ``down''.
9086 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
9087 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
9089 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
9090 with the following commands:
9096 @findex gnus-server-open-server
9097 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
9098 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
9102 @findex gnus-server-close-server
9103 Close the connection (if any) to the server
9104 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
9108 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
9109 Mark the current server as unreachable
9110 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
9113 @kindex M-o (Server)
9114 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
9115 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
9116 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
9119 @kindex M-c (Server)
9120 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
9121 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
9122 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
9126 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
9127 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
9128 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
9134 @section Getting News
9135 @cindex reading news
9136 @cindex news backends
9138 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
9139 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
9140 or it can read from a local spool.
9143 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
9144 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
9149 @subsection @sc{nntp}
9152 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
9153 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
9154 server as the, uhm, address.
9156 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
9157 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
9158 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
9159 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9161 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
9162 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
9163 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
9165 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
9170 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
9171 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
9172 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
9174 @cindex authentification
9175 @cindex nntp authentification
9176 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9177 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
9178 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
9179 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
9180 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
9181 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
9182 present in this hook.
9184 @item nntp-authinfo-function
9185 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
9186 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9187 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
9188 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
9189 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
9190 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
9191 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
9192 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
9193 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
9194 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
9195 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
9199 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
9202 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
9203 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
9204 @samp{default} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a valid
9205 @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is the only way the
9206 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
9211 Here's an example file:
9214 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
9215 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
9218 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
9219 have to be first, for instance.
9221 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
9222 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
9223 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
9224 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
9225 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
9226 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
9227 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
9229 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
9230 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
9236 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
9237 previously mentioned.
9239 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
9241 @item nntp-server-action-alist
9242 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
9243 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
9244 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
9245 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
9248 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
9252 You probably don't want to do that, though.
9254 The default value is
9257 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
9258 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
9261 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
9262 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
9264 @item nntp-maximum-request
9265 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
9266 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
9267 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
9268 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
9269 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
9270 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
9271 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
9273 @item nntp-connection-timeout
9274 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
9275 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
9276 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
9277 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
9278 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
9279 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
9280 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
9281 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
9282 no timeouts are done.
9284 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
9285 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
9286 @c @cindex PPP connections
9287 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
9288 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
9289 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
9290 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
9291 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
9292 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
9293 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
9294 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
9295 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
9296 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
9298 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
9299 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
9300 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
9301 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
9304 @item nntp-server-hook
9305 @vindex nntp-server-hook
9306 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
9309 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
9310 @findex nntp-open-telnet
9311 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
9312 @item nntp-open-connection-function
9313 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
9314 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
9315 functions are supplied:
9318 @item nntp-open-network-stream
9319 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
9322 @item nntp-open-rlogin
9323 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
9324 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
9327 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
9331 @item nntp-rlogin-program
9332 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
9333 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
9334 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
9336 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
9337 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
9338 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
9340 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9341 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9342 User name on the remote system.
9346 @item nntp-open-telnet
9347 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
9348 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
9350 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
9353 @item nntp-telnet-command
9354 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
9355 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
9357 @item nntp-telnet-switches
9358 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
9359 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
9361 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
9362 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
9363 User name for log in on the remote system.
9365 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
9366 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
9367 Password to use when logging in.
9369 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
9370 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
9371 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
9374 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9375 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9376 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
9377 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
9379 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9380 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9381 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
9382 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
9383 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
9387 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
9388 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
9389 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
9390 you must have SSLay installed
9391 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
9392 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
9393 define a server as follows:
9396 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
9398 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
9400 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
9401 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
9402 (nntp-port-number "snews")
9403 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
9408 @item nntp-end-of-line
9409 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
9410 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
9411 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
9412 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
9414 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9415 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9416 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
9420 @vindex nntp-address
9421 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
9423 @item nntp-port-number
9424 @vindex nntp-port-number
9425 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
9428 @item nntp-buggy-select
9429 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
9430 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
9432 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
9433 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
9434 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
9435 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
9438 @item nntp-xover-commands
9439 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
9442 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
9443 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
9447 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
9448 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
9449 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
9450 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
9451 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
9452 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
9453 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
9454 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
9455 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
9456 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
9457 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
9459 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
9460 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
9461 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
9463 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9464 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9465 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
9466 server closes connection.
9468 @item nntp-record-commands
9469 @vindex nntp-record-commands
9470 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
9471 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
9472 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
9473 that doesn't seem to work.
9479 @subsection News Spool
9483 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
9484 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
9485 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
9488 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
9489 anything else) as the address.
9491 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
9492 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
9493 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
9494 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
9498 @item nnspool-inews-program
9499 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
9500 Program used to post an article.
9502 @item nnspool-inews-switches
9503 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
9504 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
9506 @item nnspool-spool-directory
9507 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
9508 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
9509 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
9511 @item nnspool-nov-directory
9512 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
9513 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
9514 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
9516 @item nnspool-lib-dir
9517 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
9518 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
9520 @item nnspool-active-file
9521 @vindex nnspool-active-file
9522 The path to the active file.
9524 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
9525 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
9526 The path to the group descriptions file.
9528 @item nnspool-history-file
9529 @vindex nnspool-history-file
9530 The path to the news history file.
9532 @item nnspool-active-times-file
9533 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
9534 The path to the active date file.
9536 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
9537 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
9538 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
9541 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9542 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9544 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
9545 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
9546 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
9552 @section Getting Mail
9553 @cindex reading mail
9556 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
9560 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
9561 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
9562 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
9563 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
9564 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
9565 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
9566 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
9567 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
9568 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
9569 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
9570 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
9574 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
9575 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
9577 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
9578 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
9579 and things will happen automatically.
9581 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
9582 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
9585 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
9586 '((nnml "private")))
9589 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
9590 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
9591 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
9592 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
9593 like any other group.
9595 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
9598 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9599 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9600 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9604 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
9605 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
9606 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
9609 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
9610 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
9611 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
9614 @node Splitting Mail
9615 @subsection Splitting Mail
9616 @cindex splitting mail
9617 @cindex mail splitting
9619 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
9620 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
9621 to be split into groups.
9624 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9625 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9626 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9630 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
9631 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
9632 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
9633 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
9634 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
9635 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
9636 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
9639 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
9642 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
9643 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
9644 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
9645 mail belongs in that group.
9647 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
9648 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
9649 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
9650 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
9651 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
9652 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
9654 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
9655 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
9656 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
9657 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
9658 thinks should carry this mail message.
9660 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
9661 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
9662 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
9663 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
9665 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
9666 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
9667 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
9668 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
9669 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
9671 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
9674 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
9675 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
9676 links. If that's the case for you, set
9677 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
9678 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
9680 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
9681 @kindex nnmail-split-history
9682 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
9683 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
9685 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
9686 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
9687 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
9688 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
9689 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
9690 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
9691 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
9692 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
9696 @node Mail Backend Variables
9697 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
9699 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
9703 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9704 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9705 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
9706 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
9708 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
9709 @item nnmail-spool-file
9713 @vindex nnmail-pop-password
9714 @vindex nnmail-pop-password-required
9715 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
9716 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
9717 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
9718 @samp{larsi}, you should set this variable to @samp{po:larsi}. If
9719 your name is not @samp{larsi}, you should probably modify that
9720 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
9721 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
9722 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
9723 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
9724 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable. If the POP server needs a
9725 password, you can either set @code{nnmail-pop-password-required} to
9726 @code{t} and be prompted for the password, or set
9727 @code{nnmail-pop-password} to the password itself.
9729 @code{nnmail-spool-file} can also be a list of mailboxes.
9731 Your Emacs has to have been configured with @samp{--with-pop} before
9732 compilation. This is the default, but some installations have it
9735 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
9736 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
9737 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
9738 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
9739 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
9740 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
9742 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
9743 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
9744 @item nnmail-use-procmail
9745 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
9746 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
9747 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
9748 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
9751 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
9752 @item nnmail-crash-box
9753 When a mail backend reads a spool file, mail is first moved to this
9754 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
9755 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
9758 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
9759 @item nnmail-split-hook
9760 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
9761 @findex RFC1522 decoding
9762 @findex RFC2047 decoding
9763 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
9764 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
9765 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
9766 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
9767 in the buffer will show up in any files.
9768 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
9771 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9772 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9773 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9774 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9775 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
9776 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
9777 starting to handle the new mail) and
9778 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
9779 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
9780 default file modes the new mail files get:
9783 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9784 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
9786 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
9787 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
9790 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
9791 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
9792 This variable says where to move incoming mail to -- while processing
9793 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
9794 inhabits (e.g., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
9795 it will be used instead.
9797 @item nnmail-movemail-program
9798 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
9799 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
9800 directory. The default is @samp{movemail}.
9802 This can also be a function. In that case, the function will be called
9803 with two parameters -- the name of the inbox, and the file to be moved
9806 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
9807 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
9808 @cindex incoming mail files
9809 @cindex deleting incoming files
9810 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
9811 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{t} by
9814 @c This is @code{nil} by
9815 @c default for reasons of security.
9817 @c Since Red Gnus is an alpha release, it is to be expected to lose mail.
9818 (No Gnus release since (ding) Gnus 0.10 (or something like that) have
9819 lost mail, I think, but that's not the point. (Except certain versions
9820 of Red Gnus.)) By not deleting the Incoming* files, one can be sure not
9821 to lose mail -- if Gnus totally whacks out, one can always recover what
9824 You may delete the @file{Incoming*} files at will.
9826 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
9827 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
9828 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
9829 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
9830 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
9831 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
9832 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
9834 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
9835 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
9837 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
9839 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9840 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9841 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
9842 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
9843 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
9848 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
9849 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
9850 @cindex mail splitting
9851 @cindex fancy mail splitting
9853 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
9854 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
9855 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
9856 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
9857 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
9858 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
9860 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
9863 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
9864 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
9865 ;; from real errors.
9866 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
9868 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
9869 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
9870 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
9871 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
9872 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
9873 ;; Other mailing lists...
9874 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
9875 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
9877 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
9878 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
9882 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
9883 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
9884 the five possible split syntaxes:
9889 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
9890 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
9894 @var{(FIELD VALUE SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, the first element of
9895 which is a string, then store the message as specified by SPLIT, if
9896 header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp).
9899 @var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9900 @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
9901 matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
9902 be stored in one or more groups.
9905 @var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9906 @code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
9909 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
9910 this message. Use with extreme caution.
9913 @var{(: function arg1 arg2 ...)}: If the split is a list, and the first
9914 element is @code{:}, then the second element will be called as a
9915 function with @var{args} given as arguments. The function should return
9919 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
9923 In these splits, @var{FIELD} must match a complete field name.
9924 @var{VALUE} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
9925 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
9926 field names or words. In other words, all @var{VALUE}'s are wrapped in
9927 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
9929 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
9930 @var{FIELD} and @var{VALUE} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
9931 are expanded as specified by the variable
9932 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
9933 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
9936 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
9937 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
9938 when all this splitting is performed.
9940 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
9941 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
9942 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
9945 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
9948 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
9949 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
9950 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
9951 groupings 1 through 9.
9954 @node Mail and Procmail
9955 @subsection Mail and Procmail
9960 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
9961 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
9962 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
9963 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
9964 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
9966 If you have a combined @code{procmail}/POP/mailbox setup, you can do
9967 something like the following:
9969 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
9971 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
9972 (setq nnmail-spool-file
9973 '("/usr/spool/mail/my-name" "po:my-name"))
9976 This also means that you probably don't want to set
9977 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
9980 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
9981 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
9982 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends, except
9983 @code{nnmh}, actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
9984 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
9985 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
9987 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) by hand what
9990 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example:
9992 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
9993 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
9995 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
9996 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
9997 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
9998 to include all your mail groups.
10000 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
10001 method will be created automatically.
10003 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
10004 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
10005 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
10006 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
10007 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
10008 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
10009 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
10010 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
10012 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
10013 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
10014 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
10015 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
10016 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
10018 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
10019 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directly into an @code{nnmh}
10020 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
10021 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
10022 ever expiring the final article (i.e., the article with the highest
10023 article number) in a mail newsgroup. This is quite, quite important.
10025 Here's an example setup: The incoming spools are located in
10026 @file{~/incoming/} and have @samp{""} as suffixes (i.e., the incoming
10027 spool files have the same names as the equivalent groups). The
10028 @code{nnfolder} backend is to be used as the mail interface, and the
10029 @code{nnfolder} directory is @file{~/fMail/}.
10032 (setq nnfolder-directory "~/fMail/")
10033 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
10034 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/incoming/")
10035 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnfolder "")))
10036 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "")
10040 @node Incorporating Old Mail
10041 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
10043 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
10044 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
10045 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
10048 Doing so can be quite easy.
10050 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
10051 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
10052 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
10053 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
10054 your @code{nnml} groups.
10060 Go to the group buffer.
10063 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
10064 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10067 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
10070 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
10071 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
10074 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
10075 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
10078 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
10079 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
10080 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
10081 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
10082 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
10084 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
10085 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
10086 using the new mail backend.
10089 @node Expiring Mail
10090 @subsection Expiring Mail
10091 @cindex article expiry
10093 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
10094 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
10095 different approach to mail reading.
10097 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
10098 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
10099 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
10100 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
10101 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
10102 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
10105 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
10106 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
10107 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
10108 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
10109 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
10110 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
10111 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
10112 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
10114 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10115 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
10116 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
10117 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
10118 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
10119 column in the summary buffer.
10121 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
10122 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
10123 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
10124 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
10127 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
10129 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
10130 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
10131 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
10134 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
10135 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
10136 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
10137 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
10138 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
10140 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
10141 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
10144 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10145 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
10148 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
10149 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
10151 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
10152 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
10153 don't really mix very well.
10155 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
10156 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
10157 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
10158 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
10161 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
10162 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
10163 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
10164 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
10167 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10169 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10171 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
10173 ((string= group "mail.junk")
10175 ((string= group "important")
10181 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
10182 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
10184 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
10185 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
10186 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
10189 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
10190 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
10192 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
10193 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
10194 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
10195 easier for procmail users.
10197 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
10198 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
10199 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
10200 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
10201 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
10202 caution. Even more dangerous is the
10203 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
10204 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
10205 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
10206 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
10207 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
10208 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
10209 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
10212 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
10216 @subsection Washing Mail
10217 @cindex mail washing
10218 @cindex list server brain damage
10219 @cindex incoming mail treatment
10221 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
10222 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
10223 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
10224 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
10225 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
10226 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
10228 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
10229 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
10230 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
10233 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
10234 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
10235 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
10236 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
10239 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10240 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10241 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
10242 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
10243 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
10246 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10247 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10248 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
10249 Emacs running on MS machines.
10253 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10254 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10255 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
10256 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
10259 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10260 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10261 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
10262 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
10264 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10265 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10266 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
10267 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
10268 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
10269 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
10270 also be a list of regexp.
10272 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
10273 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
10276 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
10277 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
10280 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
10281 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
10282 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
10286 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10287 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10288 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
10292 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
10293 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
10294 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
10301 @subsection Duplicates
10303 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
10304 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
10305 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
10306 @cindex duplicate mails
10307 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
10308 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
10309 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
10310 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
10311 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
10312 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
10313 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
10314 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
10315 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
10316 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
10317 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
10318 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
10319 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
10321 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
10322 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
10323 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
10324 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
10326 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
10329 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
10330 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
10334 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
10335 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
10336 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
10337 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
10338 (any mail "mail.misc")
10345 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10346 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
10351 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
10352 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
10353 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
10354 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
10355 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
10358 @node Not Reading Mail
10359 @subsection Not Reading Mail
10361 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
10362 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
10363 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
10365 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
10366 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
10368 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10369 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10370 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10371 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10372 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10373 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
10374 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
10375 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
10376 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
10377 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
10378 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
10380 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
10381 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
10385 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
10386 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
10388 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
10389 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
10390 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
10393 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
10394 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
10395 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
10396 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
10397 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
10401 @node Unix Mail Box
10402 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
10404 @cindex unix mail box
10406 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10407 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10408 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
10409 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
10410 which group it belongs in.
10412 Virtual server settings:
10415 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
10416 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10417 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
10419 @item nnmbox-active-file
10420 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10421 The name of the active file for the mail box.
10423 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
10424 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10425 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
10431 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
10435 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10436 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10437 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
10438 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
10439 article to say which group it belongs in.
10441 Virtual server settings:
10444 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
10445 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10446 The name of the rmail mbox file.
10448 @item nnbabyl-active-file
10449 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10450 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
10452 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10453 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10454 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
10459 @subsubsection Mail Spool
10461 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
10463 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
10464 format. It should be used with some caution.
10466 @vindex nnml-directory
10467 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
10468 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
10469 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
10470 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
10472 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
10475 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
10476 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
10477 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
10478 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
10479 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
10480 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
10481 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
10482 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
10484 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
10485 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
10486 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
10487 backend when it comes to reading mail.
10489 Virtual server settings:
10492 @item nnml-directory
10493 @vindex nnml-directory
10494 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
10496 @item nnml-active-file
10497 @vindex nnml-active-file
10498 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
10500 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
10501 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
10502 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
10505 @item nnml-get-new-mail
10506 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10507 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
10509 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
10510 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
10511 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
10513 @item nnml-nov-file-name
10514 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
10515 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
10517 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10518 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10519 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
10523 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
10524 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
10525 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
10526 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
10527 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
10528 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
10529 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
10534 @subsubsection MH Spool
10536 @cindex mh-e mail spool
10538 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
10539 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
10540 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
10541 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
10543 Virtual server settings:
10546 @item nnmh-directory
10547 @vindex nnmh-directory
10548 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
10550 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
10551 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10552 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
10555 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
10556 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
10557 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
10558 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
10559 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
10560 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
10561 to set this variable to @code{t}.
10566 @subsubsection Mail Folders
10568 @cindex mbox folders
10569 @cindex mail folders
10571 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
10572 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
10573 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
10576 Virtual server settings:
10579 @item nnfolder-directory
10580 @vindex nnfolder-directory
10581 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
10583 @item nnfolder-active-file
10584 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
10585 The name of the active file.
10587 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10588 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10589 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
10591 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
10592 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10593 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
10595 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
10596 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
10597 @cindex backup files
10598 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
10599 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
10600 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
10601 your @file{.emacs} file:
10604 (defun turn-off-backup ()
10605 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
10607 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
10610 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
10611 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
10612 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
10613 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
10614 extract some information from it before removing it.
10619 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
10620 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
10621 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
10622 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
10623 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
10624 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
10627 @node Other Sources
10628 @section Other Sources
10630 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
10631 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
10635 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
10636 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
10637 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
10638 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
10639 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
10640 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
10644 @node Directory Groups
10645 @subsection Directory Groups
10647 @cindex directory groups
10649 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
10650 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
10653 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
10654 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
10655 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
10656 backend to read directories. Big deal.
10658 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
10659 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
10660 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
10661 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
10662 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
10664 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
10666 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
10667 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
10668 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
10669 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
10672 @node Anything Groups
10673 @subsection Anything Groups
10676 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
10677 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
10678 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
10681 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
10682 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
10683 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
10684 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
10685 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
10686 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
10687 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
10688 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
10689 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
10690 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
10693 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
10694 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
10695 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
10696 in the article buffer, just as usual.
10698 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
10699 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
10700 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
10701 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
10703 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
10704 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
10705 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
10706 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
10707 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
10708 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
10709 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
10710 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
10715 @item nneething-map-file-directory
10716 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
10717 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
10718 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
10720 @item nneething-exclude-files
10721 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
10722 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
10723 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
10725 @item nneething-map-file
10726 @vindex nneething-map-file
10727 Name of the map files.
10731 @node Document Groups
10732 @subsection Document Groups
10734 @cindex documentation group
10737 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
10738 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
10745 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
10750 The standard Unix mbox file.
10752 @cindex MMDF mail box
10754 The MMDF mail box format.
10757 Several news articles appended into a file.
10760 @cindex rnews batch files
10761 The rnews batch transport format.
10762 @cindex forwarded messages
10765 Forwarded articles.
10768 MIME multipart messages, besides digests.
10772 @cindex MIME digest
10773 @cindex 1153 digest
10774 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
10775 @cindex RFC 341 digest
10776 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
10778 @item standard-digest
10779 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
10782 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
10785 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
10786 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
10787 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
10790 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
10791 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
10792 group. And that's it.
10794 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
10795 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
10796 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
10797 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
10798 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
10799 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
10800 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
10801 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
10802 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
10803 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
10805 Virtual server variables:
10808 @item nndoc-article-type
10809 @vindex nndoc-article-type
10810 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
10811 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
10812 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{mime-digest},
10813 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs} or
10816 @item nndoc-post-type
10817 @vindex nndoc-post-type
10818 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
10819 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
10824 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
10828 @node Document Server Internals
10829 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
10831 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
10832 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
10833 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
10834 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
10836 First, here's an example document type definition:
10840 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
10841 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
10844 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
10845 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
10846 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
10847 types can be defined with very few settings:
10850 @item first-article
10851 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
10852 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
10855 @item article-begin
10856 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
10857 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
10859 @item head-begin-function
10860 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
10863 @item nndoc-head-begin
10864 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
10867 @item nndoc-head-end
10868 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
10869 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
10871 @item body-begin-function
10872 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
10876 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
10879 @item body-end-function
10880 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
10884 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
10887 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
10888 regexp will be totally ignored.
10892 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
10893 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
10894 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
10895 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
10896 something that's palatable for Gnus:
10899 @item prepare-body-function
10900 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
10901 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
10902 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
10904 @item article-transform-function
10905 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
10906 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
10907 body of the article.
10909 @item generate-head-function
10910 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
10911 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
10912 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
10913 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
10917 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
10922 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
10923 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
10924 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
10925 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
10926 (head-end . "^ ?$")
10927 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
10928 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
10929 (subtype digest guess))
10932 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
10933 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
10934 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
10935 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
10936 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
10938 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
10939 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
10940 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
10941 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
10942 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
10943 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
10944 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
10945 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
10946 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
10947 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
10955 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
10956 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
10957 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
10959 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
10960 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
10961 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
10964 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
10965 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
10966 that interested in doing things properly.
10968 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
10969 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
10972 First some terminology:
10977 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
10978 get news and/or mail from.
10981 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
10982 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
10985 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
10989 @item message packets
10990 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
10991 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
10992 default, where @var{X} is a number.
10994 @item response packets
10995 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
10996 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
10997 default, where @var{X} is a number.
11007 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
11008 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
11009 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
11010 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
11013 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
11016 You put the packet in your home directory.
11019 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
11020 the native or secondary server.
11023 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
11024 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
11027 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
11031 You transfer this packet to the server.
11034 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
11037 You then repeat until you die.
11041 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
11042 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
11045 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
11046 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
11047 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
11051 @node SOUP Commands
11052 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
11054 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
11058 @kindex G s b (Group)
11059 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
11060 Pack all unread articles in the current group
11061 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
11062 process/prefix convention.
11065 @kindex G s w (Group)
11066 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
11067 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
11070 @kindex G s s (Group)
11071 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
11072 Send all replies from the replies packet
11073 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
11076 @kindex G s p (Group)
11077 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
11078 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
11081 @kindex G s r (Group)
11082 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
11083 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
11086 @kindex O s (Summary)
11087 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
11088 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
11089 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
11090 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11095 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
11100 @item gnus-soup-directory
11101 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
11102 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
11103 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
11105 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
11106 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
11107 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
11108 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
11110 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
11111 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
11112 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
11113 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
11115 @item gnus-soup-packer
11116 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
11117 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
11118 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
11120 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
11121 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
11122 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
11123 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
11125 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
11126 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
11127 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
11129 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
11130 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
11131 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
11132 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
11138 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
11141 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
11142 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
11143 you can read them at leisure.
11145 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
11149 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
11150 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
11151 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
11152 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
11154 @item nnsoup-directory
11155 @vindex nnsoup-directory
11156 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
11157 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
11159 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
11160 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
11161 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
11162 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
11164 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
11165 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
11166 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
11167 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
11168 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
11170 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
11171 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
11172 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
11173 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
11175 @item nnsoup-active-file
11176 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
11177 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
11178 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
11179 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
11180 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
11182 @item nnsoup-packer
11183 @vindex nnsoup-packer
11184 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
11185 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
11187 @item nnsoup-unpacker
11188 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
11189 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
11190 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
11192 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
11193 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
11194 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
11197 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
11198 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
11199 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
11202 @item nnsoup-always-save
11203 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
11204 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
11210 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
11212 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
11213 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
11214 more for that to happen.
11216 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
11217 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
11218 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
11221 In specific, this is what it does:
11224 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
11225 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
11228 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
11229 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
11230 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
11234 @subsection Web Searches
11238 @cindex InReference
11239 @cindex Usenet searches
11240 @cindex searching the Usenet
11242 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
11243 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
11244 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
11245 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
11246 searches without having to use a browser.
11248 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
11249 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
11250 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
11251 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
11252 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
11254 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
11255 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
11256 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
11257 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
11258 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
11259 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
11260 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
11261 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
11262 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
11263 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
11266 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
11267 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
11268 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'
\e,Aj
\e(Btre} is to
11269 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
11270 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
11271 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
11273 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
11274 to use @code{nnweb}.
11276 Virtual server variables:
11281 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
11282 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
11286 @vindex nnweb-search
11287 The search string to feed to the search engine.
11289 @item nnweb-max-hits
11290 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
11291 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
11294 @item nnweb-type-definition
11295 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
11296 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
11297 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
11302 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
11306 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
11309 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
11312 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
11316 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
11323 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
11324 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
11325 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
11328 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
11329 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
11330 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
11332 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
11338 @item nngateway-address
11339 @vindex nngateway-address
11340 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
11342 @item nngateway-header-transformation
11343 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
11344 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
11345 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
11346 transformation should be called, and defaults to
11347 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
11348 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
11351 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
11352 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
11353 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
11356 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
11359 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
11362 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
11365 The following pre-defined functions exist:
11367 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11370 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11371 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11372 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
11374 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11376 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11377 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11378 @code{nngateway-address}.
11383 (setq gnus-post-method
11384 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
11385 (nngateway-header-transformation
11386 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
11394 So, to use this, simply say something like:
11397 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
11401 @node Combined Groups
11402 @section Combined Groups
11404 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
11408 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
11409 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
11413 @node Virtual Groups
11414 @subsection Virtual Groups
11416 @cindex virtual groups
11417 @cindex merging groups
11419 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
11422 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
11423 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
11424 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
11426 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
11427 regexp to match component groups.
11429 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
11430 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
11431 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
11432 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
11433 the virtual group.)
11435 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
11436 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
11439 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
11442 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
11443 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
11445 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
11446 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
11447 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
11448 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
11451 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
11454 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
11455 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
11456 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
11458 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
11459 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
11460 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
11461 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
11462 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
11464 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
11465 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
11466 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
11468 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
11469 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
11470 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
11471 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
11472 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
11473 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
11474 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
11475 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
11476 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
11477 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
11478 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
11480 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
11481 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
11482 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
11483 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
11484 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
11485 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
11486 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
11488 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
11489 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
11493 @node Kibozed Groups
11494 @subsection Kibozed Groups
11498 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
11499 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
11500 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
11501 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
11503 @kindex G k (Group)
11504 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
11507 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
11508 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
11509 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
11510 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
11512 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
11513 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
11514 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
11516 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
11517 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
11518 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
11519 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
11520 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
11521 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
11522 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
11523 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
11525 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
11526 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
11527 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
11528 Stranger things have happened.
11530 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
11531 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
11533 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
11534 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
11535 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
11536 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
11537 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
11538 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
11540 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
11541 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
11544 @node Gnus Unplugged
11545 @section Gnus Unplugged
11550 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
11552 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
11553 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
11554 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
11555 read news. Believe it or not.
11557 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
11558 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
11559 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
11560 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
11561 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
11563 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
11564 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
11565 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
11566 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
11567 reading news on a machine.
11569 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
11573 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
11574 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
11578 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
11579 @file{.gnus.el} file:
11586 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
11588 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
11591 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
11592 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
11593 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
11594 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
11595 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
11596 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
11597 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
11598 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
11599 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
11604 @subsection Agent Basics
11606 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
11608 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
11609 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
11610 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
11611 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
11613 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
11614 connected to the net continuously.
11616 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
11617 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
11619 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
11624 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
11625 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
11626 already fetched while in this mode.
11629 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
11630 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
11631 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
11634 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
11635 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
11636 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
11637 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
11640 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
11641 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
11642 then you read the news offline.
11645 And then you go to step 2.
11648 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
11654 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
11655 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
11656 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
11657 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
11658 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
11659 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
11662 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
11669 @node Agent Categories
11670 @subsection Agent Categories
11672 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
11673 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
11674 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
11675 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
11676 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
11677 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
11678 you're interested in the articles anyway.
11680 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
11681 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
11682 Gnus has its own buffer for creating and managing categories.
11685 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
11686 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
11687 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
11691 @node Category Syntax
11692 @subsubsection Category Syntax
11694 A category consists of two things.
11698 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
11699 are eligible for downloading; and
11702 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
11703 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
11704 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
11707 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
11708 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
11709 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
11710 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
11712 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
11713 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
11714 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as descibed below.
11716 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
11717 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
11718 operators sprinkled in between.
11720 Perhaps some examples are in order.
11722 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
11723 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
11729 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
11730 short (for some value of ``short'').
11732 Here's a more complex predicate:
11741 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
11742 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
11745 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
11746 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
11747 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
11749 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
11750 you want to do, you can write your own.
11754 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
11755 lines; default 100.
11758 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
11759 lines; default 200.
11762 True iff the article has a download score less than
11763 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
11766 True iff the article has a download score greater than
11767 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
11770 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
11771 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
11772 checksum and sees whether articles match.
11781 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
11782 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
11783 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
11786 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
11787 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
11788 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
11789 something along the lines of the following:
11792 (defun my-article-old-p ()
11793 "Say whether an article is old."
11794 (< (time-to-day (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
11795 (- (time-to-day (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
11798 with the predicate then defined as:
11801 (not my-article-old-p)
11804 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
11805 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
11806 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
11807 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
11810 (defvar gnus-category-predicate-alist
11811 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
11812 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
11815 and simply specify your predicate as:
11821 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
11822 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
11823 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
11824 just don't give a damm.
11827 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
11828 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
11829 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
11830 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
11831 parameters like so:
11834 (agent-predicate . short)
11837 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category
11838 default. Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this,
11839 the @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair
11842 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
11845 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
11848 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
11849 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
11850 predicate is assumed to be a list.
11853 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
11854 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
11855 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
11856 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
11857 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
11858 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
11860 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
11861 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
11862 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
11863 if it's to be specific to that group.
11865 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
11872 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
11873 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
11879 Category specification
11883 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
11889 Group Parameter specification
11892 (agent-score ("from"
11893 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
11898 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
11904 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
11911 Category specification
11914 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
11920 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
11924 Group Parameter specification
11927 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
11930 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
11935 Use @code{normal} score files
11937 If you dont want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
11938 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
11939 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
11940 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
11942 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
11943 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
11944 files for a group, *filtering out* those those sections that do not
11945 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
11949 Category Specification
11956 Group Parameter specification
11959 (agent-score . file)
11964 @node The Category Buffer
11965 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
11967 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
11968 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
11969 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
11971 The following commands are available in this buffer:
11975 @kindex q (Category)
11976 @findex gnus-category-exit
11977 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
11980 @kindex k (Category)
11981 @findex gnus-category-kill
11982 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
11985 @kindex c (Category)
11986 @findex gnus-category-copy
11987 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
11990 @kindex a (Category)
11991 @findex gnus-category-add
11992 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
11995 @kindex p (Category)
11996 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
11997 Edit the predicate of the current category
11998 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
12001 @kindex g (Category)
12002 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
12003 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
12004 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
12007 @kindex s (Category)
12008 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
12009 Edit the download score rule of the current category
12010 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
12013 @kindex l (Category)
12014 @findex gnus-category-list
12015 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
12019 @node Category Variables
12020 @subsubsection Category Variables
12023 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
12024 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
12025 Hook run in category buffers.
12027 @item gnus-category-line-format
12028 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
12029 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
12030 Variables}). Valid elements are:
12034 The name of the category.
12037 The number of groups in the category.
12040 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
12041 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
12042 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
12044 @item gnus-agent-short-article
12045 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
12046 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
12048 @item gnus-agent-long-article
12049 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
12050 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
12052 @item gnus-agent-low-score
12053 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
12054 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
12057 @item gnus-agent-high-score
12058 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
12059 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
12065 @node Agent Commands
12066 @subsection Agent Commands
12068 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
12069 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
12070 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
12074 * Group Agent Commands::
12075 * Summary Agent Commands::
12076 * Server Agent Commands::
12079 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
12080 following incantation:
12082 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
12084 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
12089 @node Group Agent Commands
12090 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
12094 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
12095 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
12096 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
12097 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
12100 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
12101 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
12102 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
12105 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
12106 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
12107 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
12108 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
12111 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
12112 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
12113 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
12114 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}). @xref{Drafts}.
12117 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
12118 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
12119 Add the current group to an Agent category
12120 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}).
12125 @node Summary Agent Commands
12126 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
12130 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
12131 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
12132 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
12135 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
12136 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
12137 Remove the downloading mark from the article
12138 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
12141 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
12142 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
12143 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
12146 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
12147 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
12148 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
12153 @node Server Agent Commands
12154 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
12158 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
12159 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
12160 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
12161 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
12164 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
12165 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
12166 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
12167 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
12173 @subsection Agent Expiry
12175 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
12176 @findex gnus-agent-expire
12177 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
12178 @cindex Agent expiry
12179 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
12182 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
12183 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
12184 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
12185 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
12186 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
12187 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
12189 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
12190 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
12191 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
12192 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
12193 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
12196 @node Outgoing Messages
12197 @subsection Outgoing Messages
12199 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
12200 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
12201 after posting, and edit them at will.
12203 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
12204 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
12205 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
12206 messages in the draft group.
12210 @node Agent Variables
12211 @subsection Agent Variables
12214 @item gnus-agent-directory
12215 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
12216 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
12217 @file{~/News/agent/}.
12219 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
12220 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
12221 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
12222 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
12223 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
12226 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
12227 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
12228 Hook run when connecting to the network.
12230 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
12231 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
12232 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
12237 @node Example Setup
12238 @subsection Example Setup
12240 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
12241 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
12242 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
12245 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over NNTP
12246 ;;; from your ISP's server.
12247 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "nntp.your-isp.com"))
12249 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
12250 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
12251 (setenv "MAILHOST" "pop.your-isp.com")
12252 (setq nnmail-spool-file "po:username")
12254 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
12255 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12257 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
12261 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
12262 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
12265 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
12266 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
12267 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
12268 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
12269 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
12272 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
12273 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
12274 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
12275 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
12276 back all the killed groups.)
12278 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
12279 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
12280 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
12283 @node Batching Agents
12284 @subsection Batching Agents
12286 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
12287 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
12288 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
12292 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
12296 @node Agent Caveats
12297 @subsection Agent Caveats
12299 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
12300 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
12304 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
12309 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
12310 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
12316 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
12317 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
12324 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
12325 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
12326 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
12329 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
12330 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
12331 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
12332 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
12333 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
12335 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
12336 before generating the summary buffer.
12338 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
12339 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
12340 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
12342 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
12343 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
12344 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
12345 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
12348 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
12349 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
12350 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
12351 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
12352 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
12353 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
12354 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
12355 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
12356 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
12357 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
12358 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
12359 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
12360 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
12361 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
12362 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
12363 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
12367 @node Summary Score Commands
12368 @section Summary Score Commands
12369 @cindex score commands
12371 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
12372 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
12373 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
12374 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
12375 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
12377 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
12378 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
12379 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
12380 score file the current one.
12382 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
12387 @kindex V s (Summary)
12388 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
12389 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
12392 @kindex V S (Summary)
12393 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
12394 Display the score of the current article
12395 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
12398 @kindex V t (Summary)
12399 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
12400 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
12401 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
12404 @kindex V R (Summary)
12405 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
12406 Run the current summary through the scoring process
12407 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
12408 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
12409 effect you're having.
12412 @kindex V c (Summary)
12413 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
12414 Make a different score file the current
12415 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
12418 @kindex V e (Summary)
12419 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
12420 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
12421 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
12425 @kindex V f (Summary)
12426 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
12427 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
12428 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
12431 @kindex V F (Summary)
12432 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
12433 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
12434 after editing score files.
12437 @kindex V C (Summary)
12438 @findex gnus-score-customize
12439 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
12440 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
12444 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
12449 @kindex V m (Summary)
12450 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
12451 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
12452 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
12455 @kindex V x (Summary)
12456 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
12457 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
12458 expunge all articles below this score
12459 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
12462 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
12463 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
12466 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
12467 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
12471 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
12472 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
12474 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
12475 keys are available:
12479 Score on the author name.
12482 Score on the subject line.
12485 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
12488 Score on the References line.
12494 Score on the number of lines.
12497 Score on the Message-ID.
12500 Score on followups.
12514 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
12515 what headers you are scoring on.
12527 Substring matching.
12530 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
12559 Greater than number.
12564 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
12565 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
12566 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
12570 Temporary score entry.
12573 Permanent score entry.
12576 Immediately scoring.
12581 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
12582 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
12583 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
12584 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
12586 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
12587 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
12588 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
12589 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
12590 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
12592 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
12593 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
12594 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
12595 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
12596 current score file.
12598 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
12599 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
12600 pretend they are keymaps or not.
12603 @node Group Score Commands
12604 @section Group Score Commands
12605 @cindex group score commands
12607 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
12612 @kindex W f (Group)
12613 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
12614 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
12615 all the time. This command will flush the cache
12616 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
12620 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
12622 @findex gnus-batch-score
12623 @cindex batch scoring
12625 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
12629 @node Score Variables
12630 @section Score Variables
12631 @cindex score variables
12635 @item gnus-use-scoring
12636 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
12637 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
12638 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
12640 @item gnus-kill-killed
12641 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
12642 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
12643 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
12644 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
12645 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
12646 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
12647 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
12649 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
12650 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
12651 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
12652 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
12653 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
12655 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
12656 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
12657 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
12658 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
12660 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12661 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12662 @cindex score cache
12663 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
12664 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
12665 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
12666 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
12667 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
12668 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
12671 @item gnus-save-score
12672 @vindex gnus-save-score
12673 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
12674 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
12675 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
12677 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12678 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12679 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
12680 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
12681 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
12682 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
12683 manually entered data.
12685 @item gnus-summary-default-score
12686 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
12687 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
12689 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
12690 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
12691 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
12692 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
12693 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
12694 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
12696 @item gnus-score-over-mark
12697 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
12698 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
12699 default. Default is @samp{+}.
12701 @item gnus-score-below-mark
12702 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
12703 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
12704 default. Default is @samp{-}.
12706 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12707 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12708 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
12709 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
12711 Predefined functions available are:
12714 @item gnus-score-find-single
12715 @findex gnus-score-find-single
12716 Only apply the group's own score file.
12718 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
12719 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
12720 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
12721 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
12722 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
12723 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
12724 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
12725 then a regexp match is done.
12727 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
12728 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
12730 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
12731 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
12732 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
12733 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
12735 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12736 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12737 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
12738 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
12739 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
12742 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
12743 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
12744 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
12745 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
12746 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
12747 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
12750 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
12751 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
12752 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
12753 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
12754 are expired. It's 7 by default.
12756 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12757 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12758 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
12759 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
12760 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
12761 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
12762 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
12765 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12766 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12767 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
12769 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
12770 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
12771 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
12772 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
12773 threading---according to the current value of
12774 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
12775 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
12776 simplified in this manner.
12781 @node Score File Format
12782 @section Score File Format
12783 @cindex score file format
12785 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
12786 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
12787 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
12789 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
12793 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
12795 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
12797 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
12799 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
12804 (mark-and-expunge -10)
12808 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
12809 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
12810 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
12811 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
12815 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
12816 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
12818 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
12819 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
12820 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
12822 Six keys are supported by this alist:
12827 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
12828 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
12829 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
12830 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
12831 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
12832 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
12833 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
12834 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
12835 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
12836 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
12837 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
12838 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
12839 to articles that matches these score entries.
12841 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
12842 score entry has one to four elements.
12846 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
12847 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
12851 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
12852 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
12853 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
12854 is successful. If this element is not present, the
12855 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
12856 instead. This is 1000 by default.
12859 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
12860 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
12861 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
12862 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
12863 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
12866 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
12867 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
12868 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
12869 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
12872 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
12873 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
12874 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
12875 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
12876 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
12877 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
12878 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
12879 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
12880 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
12881 instead, if you feel like.
12884 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
12885 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
12887 These predicates are true if
12890 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
12893 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
12894 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
12901 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
12902 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
12903 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
12904 it's not. I think.)
12906 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
12907 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
12908 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
12909 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
12912 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
12913 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
12914 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
12915 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
12916 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
12917 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
12918 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
12922 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
12923 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
12924 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
12925 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
12926 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
12927 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
12928 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
12929 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
12932 @item Head, Body, All
12933 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
12937 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
12938 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
12939 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
12940 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
12941 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
12942 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
12943 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
12947 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
12948 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{X}, then you add a
12949 @samp{thread} match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each
12950 article that has @var{X} in its @code{References} header. (These new
12951 @samp{thread} matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching
12952 articles.) This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an
12953 entire thread, even though some articles in the thread may not have
12954 complete @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
12955 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
12956 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
12960 @cindex Score File Atoms
12962 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12963 lower than this number will be marked as read.
12966 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12967 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
12969 @item mark-and-expunge
12970 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12971 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
12974 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
12975 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
12976 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
12977 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
12978 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
12981 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
12982 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
12985 @item exclude-files
12986 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
12987 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
12991 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
12992 ignored when handling global score files.
12995 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
12996 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
12997 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
12998 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
13001 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
13002 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
13003 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
13004 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
13006 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
13010 (mark-and-expunge -100)
13013 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
13014 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
13015 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
13016 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
13017 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
13019 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
13020 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
13021 ordinary scoring rules.
13024 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
13025 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
13026 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
13027 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
13028 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
13029 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
13030 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
13031 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
13032 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
13033 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
13034 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
13038 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
13039 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
13040 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
13041 file for a number of groups.
13044 @cindex local variables
13045 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
13046 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
13047 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
13048 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
13049 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
13053 @node Score File Editing
13054 @section Score File Editing
13056 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
13057 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
13058 with a mode for that.
13060 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
13061 additional commands:
13066 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
13067 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
13068 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
13069 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
13072 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
13073 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
13074 Insert the current date in numerical format
13075 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
13076 you were wondering.
13079 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
13080 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
13081 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
13082 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
13083 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
13088 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
13090 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
13091 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
13093 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
13094 e} to begin editing score files.
13097 @node Adaptive Scoring
13098 @section Adaptive Scoring
13099 @cindex adaptive scoring
13101 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
13102 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
13103 stupidity, to be precise.
13105 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
13106 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
13107 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
13108 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
13109 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
13110 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
13111 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
13112 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
13113 variable to @code{(word line)}.
13115 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
13116 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
13117 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
13118 might look something like this:
13121 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
13122 '((gnus-unread-mark)
13123 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
13124 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
13125 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
13126 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
13127 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
13128 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
13129 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
13130 (gnus-ancient-mark)
13131 (gnus-low-score-mark)
13132 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
13135 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
13136 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
13137 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
13138 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
13139 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
13140 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
13143 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
13144 will be applied to each article.
13146 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
13147 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
13148 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
13149 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
13151 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
13152 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
13153 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
13154 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
13156 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
13157 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
13158 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
13159 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
13161 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
13162 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
13163 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
13164 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
13165 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
13166 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
13168 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
13169 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
13170 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
13171 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
13172 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
13173 aspirins afterwards.)
13175 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
13176 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
13177 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
13179 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
13180 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
13181 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
13183 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
13184 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
13185 let you use different rules in different groups.
13187 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
13188 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
13189 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
13192 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
13193 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
13194 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
13195 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
13196 the length of the match is less than
13197 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
13198 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
13201 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
13202 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
13203 headers. If you adapt on words, the
13204 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
13205 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
13208 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
13209 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
13210 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
13211 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
13212 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
13215 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
13216 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
13217 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
13218 score with 30 points.
13220 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
13221 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
13222 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
13223 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
13224 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
13226 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
13227 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
13228 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
13229 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
13231 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
13232 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
13233 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
13234 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
13236 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
13237 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
13238 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
13239 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
13240 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
13242 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
13243 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
13244 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
13246 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
13247 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
13248 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
13249 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
13252 @node Home Score File
13253 @section Home Score File
13255 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
13256 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
13257 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
13258 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
13260 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
13261 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
13262 could perhaps use the same home score file.
13264 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
13265 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
13270 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
13274 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
13275 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
13279 A list. The elements in this list can be:
13283 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
13284 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
13287 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
13288 the home score file.
13291 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
13294 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
13299 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
13302 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13303 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
13306 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
13307 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
13309 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
13311 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13312 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
13315 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
13316 Other functions include
13319 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
13320 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
13321 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
13322 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
13326 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
13327 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
13328 their own home score files:
13331 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13332 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
13333 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
13334 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
13335 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
13338 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
13339 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
13340 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
13341 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
13342 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
13344 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
13345 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
13346 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
13347 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
13348 precedence over this variable.
13351 @node Followups To Yourself
13352 @section Followups To Yourself
13354 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
13355 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
13356 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
13357 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
13358 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
13359 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
13363 @item gnus-score-followup-article
13364 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
13365 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
13368 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
13369 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
13370 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
13374 @vindex message-sent-hook
13375 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
13376 @code{message-sent-hook}.
13378 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
13379 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
13383 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
13384 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
13387 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
13388 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
13393 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
13397 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
13398 is system-dependent.
13402 @section Scoring Tips
13403 @cindex scoring tips
13409 @cindex scoring crossposts
13410 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
13411 the @code{Xref} header.
13413 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
13416 @item Multiple crossposts
13417 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
13418 more than, say, 3 groups:
13420 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
13423 @item Matching on the body
13424 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
13425 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
13426 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
13427 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
13428 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
13429 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
13430 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
13433 @item Marking as read
13434 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
13435 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
13436 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
13440 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
13442 @item Negated character classes
13443 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
13444 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
13445 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
13449 @node Reverse Scoring
13450 @section Reverse Scoring
13451 @cindex reverse scoring
13453 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
13454 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
13455 like this in your score file:
13459 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
13464 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
13465 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
13468 @node Global Score Files
13469 @section Global Score Files
13470 @cindex global score files
13472 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
13473 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
13474 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
13476 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
13477 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
13478 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
13480 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
13481 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
13482 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
13483 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
13484 files are applicable to which group.
13486 Say you want to use the score file
13487 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
13488 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
13491 (setq gnus-global-score-files
13492 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
13493 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
13496 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
13497 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
13498 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
13499 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
13500 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
13502 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
13503 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
13505 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
13506 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
13507 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
13508 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
13509 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
13510 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
13512 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
13518 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
13520 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
13522 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
13524 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
13525 lowered out of existence.
13527 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
13528 articles completely.
13531 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
13532 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
13533 old articles for a long time.
13536 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
13537 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
13538 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
13539 holding our breath yet?
13543 @section Kill Files
13546 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
13547 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
13548 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
13550 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
13551 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
13552 files into score files.
13554 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
13555 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
13556 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
13557 that isn't a very good idea.
13559 Normal kill files look like this:
13562 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13563 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
13567 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
13568 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
13570 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
13571 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
13574 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
13579 @kindex M-k (Summary)
13580 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
13581 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
13584 @kindex M-K (Summary)
13585 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
13586 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
13589 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
13594 @kindex M-k (Group)
13595 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
13596 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
13599 @kindex M-K (Group)
13600 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
13601 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
13604 Kill file variables:
13607 @item gnus-kill-file-name
13608 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
13609 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
13610 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
13611 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
13612 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
13613 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
13615 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13616 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13617 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
13618 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
13621 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
13622 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
13623 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
13624 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
13625 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
13626 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
13627 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
13628 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
13629 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
13631 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13632 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13633 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
13638 @node Converting Kill Files
13639 @section Converting Kill Files
13641 @cindex converting kill files
13643 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
13644 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
13645 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
13648 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
13649 You can fetch it from
13650 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
13652 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
13653 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
13654 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
13662 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
13663 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
13664 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
13666 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
13667 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
13668 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
13669 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
13670 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
13671 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
13672 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
13673 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
13677 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
13678 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
13679 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
13680 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
13684 @node Using GroupLens
13685 @subsection Using GroupLens
13687 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
13689 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
13690 better bit in town at the moment.
13692 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
13696 @item gnus-use-grouplens
13697 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
13698 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
13699 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
13701 @item grouplens-pseudonym
13702 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
13703 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
13704 with the Better Bit Bureau.
13706 @item grouplens-newsgroups
13707 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
13708 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
13712 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
13713 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
13714 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
13715 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
13716 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
13717 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
13720 @node Rating Articles
13721 @subsection Rating Articles
13723 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
13724 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
13725 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
13726 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
13729 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
13734 @kindex r (GroupLens)
13735 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
13736 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
13739 @kindex k (GroupLens)
13740 @findex grouplens-score-thread
13741 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
13742 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
13743 threads in rec.humor.
13747 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
13748 the score of the article you're reading.
13753 @kindex n (GroupLens)
13754 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
13755 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
13758 @kindex , (GroupLens)
13759 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
13760 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
13764 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
13765 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
13768 @node Displaying Predictions
13769 @subsection Displaying Predictions
13771 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
13772 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
13773 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
13774 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
13775 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
13777 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
13778 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
13779 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
13780 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
13781 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
13782 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
13783 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
13784 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
13785 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
13786 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
13787 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
13788 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
13789 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
13791 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
13792 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
13793 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
13794 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
13796 The following are valid values for that variable.
13799 @item prediction-spot
13800 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
13803 @item confidence-interval
13804 A numeric confidence interval.
13806 @item prediction-bar
13807 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
13809 @item confidence-bar
13810 Numerical confidence.
13812 @item confidence-spot
13813 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
13815 @item prediction-num
13816 Plain-old numeric value.
13818 @item confidence-plus-minus
13819 Prediction +/- confidence.
13824 @node GroupLens Variables
13825 @subsection GroupLens Variables
13829 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
13830 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
13831 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
13832 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
13835 @item grouplens-bbb-host
13836 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
13839 @item grouplens-bbb-port
13840 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
13842 @item grouplens-score-offset
13843 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
13844 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
13847 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
13848 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
13849 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
13854 @node Advanced Scoring
13855 @section Advanced Scoring
13857 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
13858 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
13859 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
13860 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
13861 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
13863 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
13867 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
13868 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
13869 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
13873 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
13874 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
13876 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
13877 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
13878 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
13879 non-@code{nil} value.
13881 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
13882 operator, and various match operators.
13889 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
13890 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
13891 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
13896 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
13897 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
13898 then this operator will return @code{false}.
13903 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
13904 logical negation of the value of its argument.
13908 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
13909 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
13910 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
13911 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
13912 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
13913 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
13914 the ancestry you want to go.
13916 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
13917 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
13918 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
13919 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
13920 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
13923 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
13924 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
13926 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
13927 when he's talking about Gnus:
13931 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13932 ("subject" "Gnus"))
13938 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
13942 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13949 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
13950 really don't want to read what he's written:
13954 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13955 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
13959 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
13960 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
13961 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
13968 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
13969 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
13970 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
13971 ("body" "white.*socks"))
13975 The possibilities are endless.
13978 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
13979 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
13981 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
13982 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
13983 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
13984 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
13985 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
13986 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
13987 @samp{subject}) first.
13989 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
13990 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
14001 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
14002 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
14008 ("subject" "Gnus")))
14015 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
14016 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
14021 @section Score Decays
14022 @cindex score decays
14025 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
14026 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
14027 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
14028 use them in any sensible way.
14030 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
14031 @findex gnus-decay-score
14032 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
14033 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
14034 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
14035 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
14036 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
14037 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
14038 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
14039 definition of that function:
14042 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
14044 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
14045 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
14048 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
14050 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
14052 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
14055 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
14056 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
14057 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
14058 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
14062 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
14065 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
14068 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
14072 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
14073 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
14074 the new score, which should be an integer.
14076 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
14077 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
14084 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
14085 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
14086 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
14087 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
14088 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
14089 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
14090 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
14091 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
14092 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
14093 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
14094 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
14095 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
14096 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
14097 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
14098 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
14099 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
14100 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
14101 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
14105 @node Process/Prefix
14106 @section Process/Prefix
14107 @cindex process/prefix convention
14109 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
14110 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
14112 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
14113 command to be performed on.
14117 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
14118 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
14119 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
14120 with the current one.
14122 @vindex transient-mark-mode
14123 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
14124 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
14126 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
14127 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
14130 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
14131 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
14133 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
14136 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
14137 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
14138 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
14139 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14141 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
14142 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
14143 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
14144 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
14145 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
14146 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
14147 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
14148 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
14152 @section Interactive
14153 @cindex interaction
14157 @item gnus-novice-user
14158 @vindex gnus-novice-user
14159 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
14160 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
14161 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
14162 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
14165 @item gnus-expert-user
14166 @vindex gnus-expert-user
14167 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
14168 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
14169 matter how strange.
14171 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
14172 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
14173 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
14174 is @code{t} by default.
14176 @item gnus-interactive-exit
14177 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
14178 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
14183 @node Symbolic Prefixes
14184 @section Symbolic Prefixes
14185 @cindex symbolic prefixes
14187 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
14188 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
14189 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
14190 rule of 900 to the current article.
14192 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
14193 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
14194 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
14195 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
14196 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
14197 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
14198 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
14200 @kindex M-i (Summary)
14201 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
14202 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
14203 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
14204 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
14205 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
14206 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
14207 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
14208 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
14210 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
14211 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
14212 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
14214 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
14218 @node Formatting Variables
14219 @section Formatting Variables
14220 @cindex formatting variables
14222 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
14223 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
14224 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
14225 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
14226 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
14229 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
14230 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
14231 lots of percentages everywhere.
14234 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
14235 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
14236 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
14237 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
14238 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
14241 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
14242 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
14243 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
14244 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
14245 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
14246 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
14247 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
14248 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
14250 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
14251 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
14253 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
14254 @findex gnus-update-format
14255 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
14256 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
14257 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
14258 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
14262 @node Formatting Basics
14263 @subsection Formatting Basics
14265 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
14266 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
14267 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
14269 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
14270 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
14271 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
14272 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
14273 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
14276 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
14277 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
14278 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
14279 less than 4 characters wide.
14282 @node Mode Line Formatting
14283 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
14285 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
14286 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
14287 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
14288 with the following two differences:
14293 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
14296 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
14297 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
14298 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
14299 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
14300 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
14301 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
14302 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
14307 @node Advanced Formatting
14308 @subsection Advanced Formatting
14310 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
14311 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
14312 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
14313 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
14315 These are the valid modifiers:
14320 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
14324 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
14329 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
14332 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
14337 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
14340 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
14343 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
14346 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
14350 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
14351 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
14352 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
14353 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
14354 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
14355 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
14356 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
14358 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
14359 last operation, padding.
14361 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
14362 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
14363 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
14364 @xref{Compilation}.
14367 @node User-Defined Specs
14368 @subsection User-Defined Specs
14370 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
14371 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
14372 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
14373 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
14374 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
14375 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
14376 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
14377 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
14378 should protect against that.
14380 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
14381 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
14382 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
14383 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
14387 @node Formatting Fonts
14388 @subsection Formatting Fonts
14390 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
14391 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
14392 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
14393 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
14396 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
14397 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
14398 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
14399 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
14400 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
14401 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
14403 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
14404 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say
14405 @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
14406 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or
14407 symbols naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
14408 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
14409 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
14410 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
14412 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
14415 ;; Create three face types.
14416 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
14417 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
14419 ;; We want the article count to be in
14420 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
14421 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
14422 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
14424 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
14425 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
14427 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
14428 (setq gnus-group-line-format
14429 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
14432 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
14433 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
14435 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
14436 mode-line variables.
14439 @node Windows Configuration
14440 @section Windows Configuration
14441 @cindex windows configuration
14443 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
14445 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
14446 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
14447 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
14448 @code{t} by default.
14450 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
14451 glitches. Use at your own peril.
14453 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
14454 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
14455 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
14458 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
14459 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
14460 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
14464 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
14465 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
14466 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
14467 possible names is listed below.
14469 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
14470 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
14473 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
14477 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
14478 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
14479 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
14480 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
14481 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
14482 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
14483 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
14484 size spec per split.
14486 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
14487 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
14488 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
14489 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
14490 present) gets focus.
14492 Here's a more complicated example:
14495 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
14496 (summary 0.25 point)
14497 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
14501 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
14502 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
14503 occupy, not a percentage.
14505 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
14506 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
14507 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
14508 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
14509 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
14512 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
14515 (article (horizontal 1.0
14520 (summary 0.25 point)
14525 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
14526 @code{horizontal} thingie?
14528 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
14529 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
14530 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
14531 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
14532 the screen is to be given to this strip.
14534 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
14535 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
14536 lines from the splits.
14538 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
14542 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
14543 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
14544 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
14545 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
14546 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
14547 size = number | frame-params
14548 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
14551 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
14552 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
14553 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
14554 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
14556 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
14557 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
14558 @cindex window height
14559 @cindex window width
14560 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
14561 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
14562 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
14563 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
14564 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
14565 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
14567 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
14568 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
14569 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
14570 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
14572 @findex gnus-configure-frame
14573 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
14574 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
14575 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
14576 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
14577 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
14578 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
14579 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
14580 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
14581 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
14582 configuration list.
14585 (gnus-configure-frame
14589 (article 0.3 point))
14597 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
14598 @code{frame} split:
14601 (gnus-configure-frame
14604 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
14606 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
14607 (user-position . t)
14608 (left . -1) (top . 1))
14613 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
14614 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
14615 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
14616 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
14617 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
14618 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
14619 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
14620 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
14623 Here's a list of all possible keys for
14624 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
14626 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
14627 @code{browse}, @code{message}, @code{pick}, @code{info},
14628 @code{summary-faq}, @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server},
14629 @code{edit-score}, @code{post}, @code{reply}, @code{forward},
14630 @code{reply-yank}, @code{mail-bounce}, @code{draft}, @code{pipe},
14631 @code{bug}, @code{compose-bounce}, and @code{score-trace}.
14633 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
14634 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
14635 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
14639 (message (horizontal 1.0
14640 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
14642 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
14647 @findex gnus-add-configuration
14648 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
14649 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
14650 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
14651 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
14654 (gnus-add-configuration
14655 '(article (vertical 1.0
14657 (summary .25 point)
14661 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
14662 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
14663 Gnus has been loaded.
14665 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
14666 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
14667 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
14668 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
14669 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
14671 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
14672 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
14673 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
14677 @node Faces and Fonts
14678 @section Faces and Fonts
14683 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
14684 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
14685 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
14690 @section Compilation
14691 @cindex compilation
14692 @cindex byte-compilation
14694 @findex gnus-compile
14696 Remember all those line format specification variables?
14697 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
14698 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
14699 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
14700 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
14701 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
14704 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
14705 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
14706 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
14707 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
14708 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
14709 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
14710 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
14714 @section Mode Lines
14717 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
14718 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
14719 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
14720 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
14721 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
14722 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
14723 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
14726 @cindex display-time
14728 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
14729 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
14730 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
14731 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
14732 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
14733 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
14734 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
14735 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
14738 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
14740 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
14741 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
14743 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
14744 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
14745 (length display-time-string)))))
14748 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
14749 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
14750 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
14751 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
14752 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
14755 @node Highlighting and Menus
14756 @section Highlighting and Menus
14758 @cindex highlighting
14761 @vindex gnus-visual
14762 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
14763 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
14764 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
14767 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
14768 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
14771 @item group-highlight
14772 Do highlights in the group buffer.
14773 @item summary-highlight
14774 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
14775 @item article-highlight
14776 Do highlights according to @code{gnus-article-display-hook} in the
14779 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
14781 Create menus in the group buffer.
14783 Create menus in the summary buffers.
14785 Create menus in the article buffer.
14787 Create menus in the browse buffer.
14789 Create menus in the server buffer.
14791 Create menus in the score buffers.
14793 Create menus in all buffers.
14796 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
14797 buffers, you could say something like:
14800 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
14803 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
14806 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
14809 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
14810 in all Gnus buffers.
14812 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
14815 @item gnus-mouse-face
14816 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
14817 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
14818 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
14822 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
14826 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
14827 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
14828 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
14830 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
14831 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
14832 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
14834 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
14835 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
14836 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
14838 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
14839 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
14840 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
14842 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
14843 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
14844 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
14846 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
14847 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
14848 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
14859 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
14860 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
14861 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
14862 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
14863 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
14867 @vindex gnus-carpal
14868 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
14869 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
14870 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
14875 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14876 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14877 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
14879 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
14880 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
14881 Face used on buttons.
14883 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
14884 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
14885 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
14887 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
14888 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
14889 Buttons in the group buffer.
14891 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
14892 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
14893 Buttons in the summary buffer.
14895 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
14896 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
14897 Buttons in the server buffer.
14899 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
14900 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
14901 Buttons in the browse buffer.
14904 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
14905 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
14906 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
14914 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
14915 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
14916 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
14917 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
14918 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
14920 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
14921 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
14922 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
14924 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
14925 been idle for thirty minutes:
14928 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
14931 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
14935 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
14938 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
14939 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
14940 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
14942 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
14943 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
14944 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
14945 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
14947 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
14948 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
14949 @var{idle} minutes.
14951 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
14952 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
14955 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
14956 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
14957 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
14959 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
14960 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
14961 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
14962 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
14964 @vindex gnus-use-demon
14965 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
14966 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
14968 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
14969 your @file{.gnus} file:
14971 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
14973 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
14976 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
14977 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
14978 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
14979 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
14980 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
14981 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
14982 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
14983 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
14984 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
14985 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
14986 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
14988 @findex gnus-demon-init
14989 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
14990 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
14991 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
14992 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
14993 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
14995 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
14996 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
14997 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
15006 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
15007 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
15009 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
15010 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
15011 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
15012 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
15015 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
15016 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
15017 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
15018 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
15020 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
15021 this will make spam disappear.
15023 There are some variables to customize, of course:
15026 @item gnus-use-nocem
15027 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
15028 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
15031 @item gnus-nocem-groups
15032 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
15033 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
15034 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
15035 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
15037 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
15038 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
15039 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
15040 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
15041 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
15042 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
15043 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
15045 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
15048 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
15049 @cindex Chris Lewis
15050 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
15051 usenet abuse than anybody else.
15054 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
15055 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
15056 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
15058 @item jem@@xpat.com;
15060 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
15063 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
15064 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
15065 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
15068 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
15069 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
15070 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
15071 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
15072 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
15073 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
15074 @var{(issuer conditions ...)} elements in the list. Each condition is
15075 either a string (which is a regexp that matches types you want to use)
15076 or a list on the form @code{(not STRING)}, where @var{string} is a
15077 regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
15079 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
15080 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
15083 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
15086 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
15087 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
15090 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
15093 The specs are applied left-to-right.
15096 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
15097 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
15099 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
15100 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
15101 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
15102 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
15104 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
15105 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
15108 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
15110 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
15118 This might be dangerous, though.
15120 @item gnus-nocem-directory
15121 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
15122 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
15123 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
15125 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
15126 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
15127 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
15128 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
15129 might then see old spam.
15133 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
15134 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
15135 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
15136 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
15143 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
15144 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
15145 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
15147 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
15148 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
15149 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
15150 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
15151 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
15152 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
15153 @code{undo} function.
15155 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
15156 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
15157 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
15158 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
15159 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
15160 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
15161 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
15162 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
15163 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
15164 never be totally undoable.
15166 @findex gnus-undo-mode
15167 @vindex gnus-use-undo
15169 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
15170 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
15171 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
15172 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
15177 @section Moderation
15180 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
15181 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
15182 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
15185 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
15189 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
15192 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
15194 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
15199 You split your incoming mail by matching on
15200 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
15201 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
15204 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
15205 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
15208 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
15209 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
15213 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
15216 (setq gnus-moderated-list
15217 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
15221 @node XEmacs Enhancements
15222 @section XEmacs Enhancements
15225 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
15229 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
15230 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
15231 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
15232 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
15245 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
15246 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
15247 over your shoulder as you read news.
15250 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
15251 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
15252 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
15253 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
15254 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
15259 @subsubsection Picon Basics
15261 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
15270 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
15271 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
15272 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
15273 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
15274 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
15275 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
15276 @code{GIF} formats.
15279 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15280 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
15281 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
15282 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
15283 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
15285 @vindex gnus-picons-database
15286 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
15287 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
15288 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
15289 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
15290 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
15293 @node Picon Requirements
15294 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
15296 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
15297 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
15300 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
15301 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
15302 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
15304 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15305 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
15306 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
15307 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
15308 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
15312 @subsubsection Easy Picons
15314 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
15315 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
15318 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
15319 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
15320 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
15321 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
15322 'gnus-picons-article-display-x-face)
15325 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
15326 containing the Picons databases.
15328 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
15331 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15332 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
15337 @subsubsection Hard Picons
15345 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
15346 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
15347 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
15348 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
15349 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
15354 @item gnus-picons-database
15355 @vindex gnus-picons-database
15356 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
15357 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
15358 subdirectories. This is only useful if
15359 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
15360 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
15362 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15363 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15364 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
15365 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
15366 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
15367 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
15368 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
15370 @item gnus-picons-display-where
15371 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
15372 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
15373 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
15374 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
15375 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
15376 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
15377 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
15379 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
15380 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
15381 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
15386 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
15387 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
15389 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
15390 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
15393 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
15394 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
15396 @item gnus-article-display-picons
15397 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
15398 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
15399 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer. Should be added to the
15400 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
15402 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
15403 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
15404 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present. This function
15405 should be added to @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
15409 Note: You must append them to the hook, so make sure to specify 't'
15410 for the append flag of @code{add-hook}:
15413 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
15417 @node Picon Useless Configuration
15418 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
15426 The following variables offer further control over how things are
15427 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
15428 don't need to worry about.
15432 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
15433 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
15434 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
15435 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
15437 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
15438 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
15439 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
15440 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
15442 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
15443 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
15444 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
15445 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
15446 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
15448 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15449 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15450 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
15451 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
15452 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
15453 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
15454 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
15456 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
15457 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
15458 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
15459 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
15461 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
15462 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
15463 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
15464 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
15465 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
15466 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
15467 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
15469 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
15470 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
15471 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
15472 Defaults to @code{nil}.
15474 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
15475 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
15476 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
15477 Defaults to @code{t}.
15479 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
15480 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
15481 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
15482 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
15484 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
15485 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
15486 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
15487 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
15489 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
15490 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
15491 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
15492 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
15493 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
15494 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
15495 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
15496 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
15507 @subsection Smileys
15512 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
15517 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
15518 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
15520 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
15521 @file{.gnus.el} file:
15524 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-smiley-display t)
15527 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
15528 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
15529 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
15530 text and maps that to file names.
15532 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
15533 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
15534 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
15535 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
15536 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
15537 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
15539 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
15540 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
15542 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
15543 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
15544 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
15546 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
15547 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
15551 @item smiley-data-directory
15552 @vindex smiley-data-directory
15553 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
15555 @item smiley-flesh-color
15556 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
15557 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
15559 @item smiley-features-color
15560 @vindex smiley-features-color
15561 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
15563 @item smiley-tongue-color
15564 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
15565 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
15567 @item smiley-circle-color
15568 @vindex smiley-circle-color
15569 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
15571 @item smiley-mouse-face
15572 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
15573 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
15579 @subsection Toolbar
15589 @item gnus-use-toolbar
15590 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
15591 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
15592 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
15593 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
15595 @item gnus-group-toolbar
15596 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
15597 The toolbar in the group buffer.
15599 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
15600 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
15601 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
15603 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
15604 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
15605 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
15611 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
15614 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
15615 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
15616 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
15617 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
15618 unusual directory structure.
15620 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
15621 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
15622 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
15623 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
15625 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
15626 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
15627 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
15628 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
15629 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
15630 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
15632 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
15633 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
15634 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
15648 @node Fuzzy Matching
15649 @section Fuzzy Matching
15650 @cindex fuzzy matching
15652 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
15653 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
15655 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
15656 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
15657 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
15659 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
15660 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
15661 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
15662 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
15663 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
15666 @node Thwarting Email Spam
15667 @section Thwarting Email Spam
15671 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
15673 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
15674 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
15675 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
15676 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
15677 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
15678 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
15679 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
15680 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
15683 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
15684 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
15685 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
15686 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
15687 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
15688 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
15692 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
15693 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
15695 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
15696 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
15697 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
15698 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
15699 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
15700 part of the mail address.)
15703 (setq message-default-news-headers
15704 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
15707 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
15708 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
15713 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
15714 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
15715 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
15721 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
15722 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
15723 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
15724 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
15726 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
15727 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
15728 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
15729 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
15730 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
15731 your fancy split rule in this way:
15736 (to "larsi" "misc")
15740 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
15741 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
15742 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
15743 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
15744 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
15746 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
15747 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
15748 at @* @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
15749 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
15750 cosmic balance somewhat.
15752 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
15753 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
15754 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
15755 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
15758 @node Various Various
15759 @section Various Various
15765 @item gnus-home-directory
15766 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
15767 defaults to @file{~/}.
15769 @item gnus-directory
15770 @vindex gnus-directory
15771 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
15772 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
15773 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
15775 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
15776 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
15777 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
15778 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
15780 @item gnus-default-directory
15781 @vindex gnus-default-directory
15782 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
15783 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
15784 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
15785 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
15786 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
15787 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
15790 @vindex gnus-verbose
15791 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
15792 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
15793 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
15794 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
15795 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
15797 @item gnus-verbose-backends
15798 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
15799 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
15800 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
15802 @item nnheader-max-head-length
15803 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
15804 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
15805 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
15806 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
15807 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
15808 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
15809 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
15810 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
15811 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
15813 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
15814 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
15815 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
15816 read when doing the operation described above.
15818 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15819 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15821 @cindex invalid characters in file names
15822 @cindex characters in file names
15823 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
15824 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
15825 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
15828 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15832 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
15833 Windows (phooey) systems.
15835 @item gnus-hidden-properties
15836 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
15837 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
15838 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
15839 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
15841 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
15842 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
15843 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
15844 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
15845 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
15847 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
15848 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
15849 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
15858 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
15859 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
15861 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
15863 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
15869 Not because of victories @*
15872 but for the common sunshine,@*
15874 the largess of the spring.
15878 but for the day's work done@*
15879 as well as I was able;@*
15880 not for a seat upon the dais@*
15881 but at the common table.@*
15886 @chapter Appendices
15889 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
15890 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
15891 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
15892 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
15893 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
15894 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
15895 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
15903 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
15904 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
15906 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
15907 can point your (feh!) web browser to
15908 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
15909 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
15910 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
15912 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
15913 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
15914 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
15915 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
15916 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
15917 appropriate name, don't you think?)
15919 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
15920 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
15921 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
15922 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
15924 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
15925 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
15926 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
15928 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
15929 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
15931 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
15932 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
15934 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37
15935 releases. If was released as ``Gnus 5.6 on March 8th 1998.
15937 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
15938 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
15939 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
15940 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
15941 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
15945 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
15946 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
15947 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
15948 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
15949 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
15950 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
15951 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
15958 What's the point of Gnus?
15960 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
15961 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
15962 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
15963 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
15964 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
15965 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
15966 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
15967 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
15968 keep track of millions of people who post?
15970 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
15971 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
15972 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
15973 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
15974 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
15975 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
15976 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
15977 every one of you to explore and invent.
15979 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
15980 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
15983 @node Compatibility
15984 @subsection Compatibility
15986 @cindex compatibility
15987 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
15988 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
15989 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
15994 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
15998 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
16001 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
16004 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
16005 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
16006 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
16007 important variables have their values copied into their global
16008 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
16009 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
16011 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
16012 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
16013 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
16014 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
16015 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
16019 @cindex highlighting
16020 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
16021 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
16022 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
16023 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
16024 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
16025 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
16028 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
16029 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
16030 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
16031 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
16033 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
16034 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
16035 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
16036 to stop doing it the old way.
16038 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
16040 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
16042 @cindex reporting bugs
16044 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
16045 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
16046 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
16048 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
16049 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
16050 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
16051 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
16056 @subsection Conformity
16058 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
16059 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
16066 There are no known breaches of this standard.
16070 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
16072 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
16073 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
16074 We do have some breaches to this one.
16079 Gnus does not yet fully handle MIME, and this standard-to-be seems to
16080 think that MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
16083 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
16084 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
16085 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
16086 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
16087 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
16092 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
16093 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
16094 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
16095 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
16099 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
16100 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
16105 @subsection Emacsen
16111 Gnus should work on :
16119 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
16123 Gnus will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than that. Not
16124 reliably, at least.
16126 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
16127 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
16128 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
16133 @subsection Contributors
16134 @cindex contributors
16136 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
16137 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
16138 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
16139 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
16140 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
16141 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
16142 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
16143 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
16144 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
16145 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
16147 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
16153 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
16156 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
16157 well as numerous other things).
16160 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
16163 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
16166 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el and many other things
16167 connected with @sc{mime} and other types of en/decoding.
16170 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
16171 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
16174 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
16177 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
16178 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
16181 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
16184 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
16187 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
16190 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
16193 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
16194 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
16197 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
16200 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
16203 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
16206 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
16210 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
16213 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
16216 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
16219 Fran
\e,Ag
\e(Bois Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
16220 well as autoconf support.
16224 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
16225 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
16227 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
16232 David K
\e,Ae
\e(Bgedal,
16236 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
16240 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
16262 Massimo Campostrini,
16270 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
16276 Michael Welsh Duggan,
16279 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
16283 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
16290 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
16292 Michelangelo Grigni,
16295 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
16297 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
16299 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
16304 Fran
\e,Ag
\e(Bois Felix Ingrand,
16305 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
16307 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
16316 Peter Skov Knudsen,
16317 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
16318 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
16319 Thor Kristoffersen,
16322 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
16339 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
16340 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
16347 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
16351 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
16354 John McClary Prevost,
16360 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
16365 Christian von Roques,
16367 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
16374 Philippe Schnoebelen,
16376 Randal L. Schwartz,
16406 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka.
16408 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
16409 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
16410 (550kB and counting).
16412 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
16415 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
16416 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
16420 @subsection New Features
16421 @cindex new features
16424 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
16425 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
16426 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
16427 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
16430 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
16431 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
16432 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
16436 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
16438 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
16443 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
16444 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
16447 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
16448 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
16451 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
16454 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
16455 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
16456 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
16459 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
16460 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
16461 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
16462 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
16465 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
16466 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16469 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
16470 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
16471 (@pxref{The Active File}).
16474 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
16475 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
16478 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
16479 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
16480 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
16483 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
16484 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
16485 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
16488 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
16489 the @file{.emacs} file.
16492 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
16493 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16496 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
16497 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
16500 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
16501 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16504 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
16505 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
16508 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
16509 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
16512 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
16515 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
16516 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
16519 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
16520 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
16523 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
16524 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
16527 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
16530 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
16531 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
16534 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
16538 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
16542 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
16543 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
16546 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
16552 @node September Gnus
16553 @subsubsection September Gnus
16557 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
16561 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
16566 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
16567 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
16571 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
16572 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
16576 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
16580 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
16581 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
16584 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
16588 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
16591 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
16594 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
16597 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
16601 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
16602 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
16605 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
16609 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
16613 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
16617 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
16621 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
16624 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
16625 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
16628 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
16632 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
16633 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
16636 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
16639 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
16640 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
16641 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
16644 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
16648 The Gnus cache is much faster.
16651 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
16655 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
16656 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
16659 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
16660 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
16663 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
16664 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
16667 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
16668 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
16669 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
16672 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
16673 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
16676 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
16679 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
16682 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16683 'gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head)
16687 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
16690 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
16693 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
16694 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
16697 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
16701 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
16704 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
16709 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
16712 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
16716 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16719 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
16723 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
16726 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
16729 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
16730 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
16733 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
16734 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
16738 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
16739 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
16742 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
16746 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
16747 buffer to allow easier treatment.
16750 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
16753 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
16757 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
16761 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
16762 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
16765 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
16769 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
16770 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
16773 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
16774 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16777 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
16781 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16784 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16785 'gnus-article-hide-boring-headers t)
16789 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
16792 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
16798 @subsubsection Red Gnus
16800 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
16804 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
16811 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
16814 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
16815 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
16818 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
16819 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
16823 Article washing status can be displayed in the
16824 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
16827 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
16830 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
16831 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
16834 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
16838 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
16839 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
16843 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
16844 Server Internals}).
16847 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
16851 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
16854 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
16855 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
16858 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
16859 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
16860 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
16863 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
16864 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
16867 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
16868 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
16871 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
16875 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
16876 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
16879 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
16880 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
16883 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
16887 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
16890 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
16894 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
16895 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
16898 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
16899 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
16902 A new command for reading collections of documents
16903 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
16904 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
16907 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
16911 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
16912 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
16915 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
16916 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
16917 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
16920 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
16921 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
16925 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
16929 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
16933 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
16938 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
16942 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
16946 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
16947 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
16950 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
16953 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16954 'gnus-article-emphasize)
16961 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
16963 New features in Gnus 5.6:
16968 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
16969 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
16970 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
16973 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
16974 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
16975 group, which is created automatically.
16978 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
16982 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
16985 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
16986 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
16989 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
16993 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
16996 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
16997 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
17000 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
17003 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
17004 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
17007 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
17008 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
17011 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
17012 control over simplification.
17015 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
17018 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
17022 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
17025 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
17028 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
17029 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
17030 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
17033 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
17034 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
17037 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
17041 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
17042 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
17045 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
17046 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
17049 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
17053 A history of where mails have been split is available.
17056 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
17059 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
17060 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
17063 A new function for citing in Message has been
17064 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
17067 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
17070 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
17074 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
17075 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
17078 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
17079 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
17082 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
17085 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
17090 @node Newest Features
17091 @subsection Newest Features
17094 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
17097 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
17099 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
17100 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
17103 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
17108 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
17111 Really do unbinhexing.
17114 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
17115 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
17118 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
17121 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
17124 facep is not declared.
17127 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
17128 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
17131 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
17136 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
17137 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
17138 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
17139 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
17140 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
17141 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
17142 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
17147 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
17150 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
17153 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
17155 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
17156 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
17158 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
17160 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
17162 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
17163 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
17165 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
17167 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
17168 be marked as unread.
17170 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
17172 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
17174 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
17175 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
17177 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
17179 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
17181 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
17182 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
17184 topics that contain just groups with ticked
17185 articles aren't displayed.
17187 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
17189 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
17190 make the mail groups killed.
17192 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
17194 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
17195 and articles have to be removed.
17197 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
17200 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
17202 finding short score file names takes forever.
17204 canceling articles in foreign groups.
17206 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
17208 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
17210 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
17212 nnweb doesn't work properly.
17214 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
17216 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
17217 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
17221 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
17223 really unbinhex binhex files.
17225 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
17226 bar and the Gnus bar.
17229 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
17230 `(canonize-message-id id)'
17231 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
17232 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
17233 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
17234 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
17239 nnml .overview directory with splits.
17243 postponed commands.
17245 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
17247 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
17250 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
17251 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
17253 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
17254 inherit copy prompts and save files.
17256 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
17258 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
17259 for backends that support that.
17261 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
17263 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
17264 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
17266 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
17267 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
17269 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
17271 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
17273 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
17275 server mode command: close/open all connections
17277 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
17278 has been changed before using it.
17280 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
17282 hide (sub)threads with low score.
17284 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
17286 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
17288 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
17289 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
17291 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
17292 contain groups that match a regexp.
17294 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
17297 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
17300 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
17301 from subject lines.
17303 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
17305 nntp-ping-before-connect
17307 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
17309 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
17310 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
17312 message annotations.
17314 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
17316 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
17317 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
17319 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
17324 support qmail maildir spools
17326 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
17328 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
17330 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
17332 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
17333 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
17335 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
17337 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
17339 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
17340 finds and generate proper active ranges.
17342 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
17343 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
17345 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
17347 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
17349 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
17350 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
17352 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
17354 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
17356 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
17357 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
17360 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
17362 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
17364 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
17365 `C-c C-c' when posting.
17367 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
17370 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
17371 should be marker as expirable.
17373 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
17375 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
17376 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
17378 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
17379 Also consult Date headers.
17381 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
17383 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
17385 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
17386 Message-ID, delete the "original".
17388 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
17389 into a See-Also header.
17391 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
17393 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
17395 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
17396 should be listed as such and not as "K".
17398 generate font names dynamically.
17400 score file mode auto-alist.
17402 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
17403 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
17405 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
17406 absolutely all headers there is.
17408 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
17409 and pipe them to the process.
17411 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
17412 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
17413 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
17415 function for starting to edit a file to put into
17416 the current mail group.
17418 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
17420 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
17421 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
17423 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
17424 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
17426 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
17428 when replying to several process-marked articles,
17429 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
17431 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
17432 groups it has been mailed to.
17434 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
17436 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
17438 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
17440 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
17441 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
17443 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
17444 newlines) should be ignored.
17446 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
17447 groups in subtopics as well.
17449 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
17451 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
17454 add edit and forward secondary marks.
17456 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
17458 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
17460 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
17462 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
17464 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
17466 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
17467 or the formatted article.
17469 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
17471 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
17472 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
17474 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
17476 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
17478 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
17480 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
17481 even unread articles.
17483 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
17485 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
17487 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
17489 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
17491 canceling articles in foreign groups.
17493 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
17496 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
17497 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
17499 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
17500 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
17502 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
17504 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
17506 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
17507 from a particular server? Hm.
17509 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
17510 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
17512 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
17514 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
17515 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
17517 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
17518 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
17520 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
17521 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
17522 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
17525 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
17526 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
17528 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
17530 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
17532 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
17534 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
17537 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
17540 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
17541 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
17543 command to show and edit group scores
17545 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
17548 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
17550 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
17552 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
17553 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
17556 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
17557 that are of that length.
17559 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
17561 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
17563 asynchronous posting under nntp.
17565 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
17567 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
17569 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
17571 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
17572 a score lower than this number.
17574 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
17576 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
17578 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
17579 so that each copy can be edited separately.
17581 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
17583 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
17584 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
17586 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
17589 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
17590 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
17591 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
17592 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
17594 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
17597 command to remove all topic stuff.
17599 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
17600 and splitting the resulting digests.
17602 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
17604 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
17606 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
17607 matches an alist -- before saving.
17609 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
17611 variable to activate each group before entering them
17612 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
17614 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
17615 starting Gnus first if necessary.
17617 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
17618 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
17620 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
17622 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
17623 of several groups at once.
17625 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
17626 matches some regexp(s).
17628 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
17630 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
17632 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
17634 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
17636 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
17638 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
17640 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
17642 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
17643 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
17644 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
17645 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
17647 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
17648 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
17650 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
17652 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
17653 recently cited text.
17655 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
17657 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
17660 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
17661 server and just read the articles in the server
17663 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
17664 value of nnoo variables.
17666 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
17668 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
17669 listed in each group info.
17671 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
17674 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
17675 should only be applied to some groups.
17677 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
17678 mail-copies-to: never.
17680 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
17681 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
17683 the slave dribble files should auto-save to the slave file names.
17685 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
17688 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
17691 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
17693 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
17696 group user-defined meta-parameters.
17700 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
17702 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
17703 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
17704 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
17705 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
17706 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
17708 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at @*
17709 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
17716 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
17717 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
17719 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
17720 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
17722 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
17723 "Return the date the group was last read."
17724 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
17729 tanken var at n
\e,Ae
\e(Br du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til ilete
17730 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den v
\e,Af
\e(Bre en
17731 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
17732 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
17736 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
17737 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
17739 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
17742 They could be used like this:
17746 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
17747 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
17748 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
17750 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
17752 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
17755 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
17758 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
17759 affect the summary line format.
17763 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
17765 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
17766 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
17768 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
17771 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
17773 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
17775 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
17777 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
17779 - For other files, just find them normally.
17781 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
17782 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
17785 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
17786 tell him what you are doing.
17789 Currently, I get prompted:
17793 decend into sci.something ?
17797 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
17798 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
17799 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
17800 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
17803 Ja, det burde v
\e,Af
\e(Bre en m
\e,Ae
\e(Bte
\e,Ae
\e(B si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
17804 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? S
\e,Ae
\e(B kunne score-regler legges til den
17805 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
17806 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
17809 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
17810 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
17816 more than n blank lines
17818 more than m identical lines
17819 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
17821 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
17825 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
17826 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
17827 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
17828 "same" subject for threading purposes.
17831 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
17832 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
17833 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
17834 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
17837 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
17840 soup - bowl of soup
17841 score below - dim light bulb
17842 score over - bright light bulb
17845 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
17850 show-list-of-articles-in-group
17851 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17852 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
17853 if (articles-selected)
17854 start-reading-selected-articles;
17855 junk-unread-articles;
17860 else if (key-pressed = '.')
17861 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
17862 select-thread-under-cursor;
17864 select-article-under-cursor;
17868 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17869 if (more-pages-in-article)
17871 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
17878 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
17879 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
17880 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
17883 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
17884 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
17885 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
17886 the wildcard expression).
17889 It would be nice if it also handled
17891 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
17893 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
17898 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
17899 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
17900 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
17901 article versions) variable.
17903 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
17905 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
17906 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
17910 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
17913 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
17914 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
17915 (message-sent-hook).
17917 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
17920 * Enhancements to Gnus:
17924 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
17925 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
17928 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
17929 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
17930 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
17933 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
17934 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
17938 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
17941 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
17945 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
17946 the nnmail duplicate checking.
17949 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
17950 value of the signature file.
17953 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
17954 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
17957 (setq message-tab-alist
17958 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
17959 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
17961 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
17965 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
17968 a command to import a buffer into a group.
17971 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
17974 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
17975 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
17978 a command to process mark all unread articles.
17981 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
17982 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
17983 do more gathering by subject.
17986 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
17987 article numerical order.
17990 (gnus-thread-total-score
17991 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
17995 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
17998 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
17999 in the summary buffer.
18002 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
18003 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
18006 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
18007 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
18008 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
18009 and/or newsgroup name.
18012 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
18015 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
18018 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
18021 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
18022 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
18023 will automatically get the process mark.
18026 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
18027 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
18028 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
18031 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
18035 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
18036 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
18039 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
18040 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
18044 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
18045 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
18048 be able to post via DejaNews.
18051 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
18054 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
18055 allow them to be displayed separately.
18058 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
18059 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
18062 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
18063 articles that match a certain From header.
18066 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
18067 saving living summary buffers.
18070 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
18071 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
18074 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
18075 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
18078 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
18079 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
18082 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
18083 (goto-char (point-min))
18084 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
18085 (replace-match "`" t t))
18086 (goto-char (point-min))
18087 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
18088 (replace-match "'" t t))
18089 (goto-char (point-min))
18090 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
18091 (replace-match "\"" t t))
18092 (goto-char (point-min))
18093 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
18094 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
18099 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
18101 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
18102 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
18103 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
18104 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
18108 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
18111 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
18112 numbers and match on the age of the article.
18116 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
18117 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
18118 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
18120 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
18121 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
18123 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
18124 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
18129 all commands that react to the process mark should push
18130 the current process mark set onto the stack.
18133 gnus-article-hide-pgp
18134 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt islette den dersom teksten matcher
18136 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
18138 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
18139 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
18142 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
18143 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
18146 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
18150 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
18151 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
18154 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
18157 nndraft-request-group should tally auto-save files.
18160 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
18163 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
18167 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
18173 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
18176 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
18180 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
18181 X characters in the body.
18184 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
18187 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
18190 format spec to "tab" to a position.
18193 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
18196 command to display all dormant articles.
18199 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
18202 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
18203 to something someone else has said.
18206 Read Netscape discussion groups:
18207 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
18210 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
18211 the displayed version.
18214 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
18218 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
18221 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
18222 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
18223 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
18227 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
18228 in the head or body.
18231 Allow breaking lengthy NNTP commands.
18234 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
18237 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
18238 in a special, unique buffer.
18241 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
18244 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
18245 is less than a certain number of days old.
18248 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
18251 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
18254 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
18255 file, for instance.
18258 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
18259 in any other dummy thread will make gnus highlight the
18260 dummy root instead of the first article.
18263 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
18264 topics for displaying.
18267 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
18268 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
18271 gnus-posting-styles doesn't work in drafts.
18274 gnus-summary-limit-include-cached is slow when there are
18275 many articles in the cache, since it regenerates big parts of the
18276 summary buffer for each article.
18279 Implement gnus-batch-brew-soup.
18282 Group parameters and summary commands for un/subscribing to mailing
18286 Introduce nnmail-home-directory.
18289 gnus-fetch-group and friends should exit Gnus when the user
18293 The jingle is only played on the second invocation of Gnus.
18296 Bouncing articles should do MIME.
18299 Crossposted articles should "inherit" the % or @ mark from the other
18300 groups it has been crossposted to, or something. (Agent.)
18303 `S D r' should allow expansion of aliases.
18306 If point is on a group that appears multiple times in topics, and
18307 you press `l', point will move to the first instance of the group.
18310 The documentation should mention pop3.el, fetchmail, smtpmail and why
18311 po:username often fails.
18314 Fetch by Message-ID from dejanews.
18316 <URL:http://search.dejanews.com/msgid.xp?MID=%3C62h9l9$hm4@@basement.replay.com%3E&fmt=raw>
18319 Solve the halting problem.
18328 @section The Manual
18332 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
18333 either @code{texi2dvi}
18335 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
18336 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
18338 to get what you hold in your hands now.
18340 The following conventions have been used:
18345 This is a @samp{string}
18348 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
18351 This is a @file{file}
18354 This is a @code{symbol}
18358 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
18362 (setq flargnoze "yes")
18365 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
18368 (setq flumphel 'yes)
18371 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
18372 ever get them confused.
18376 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
18377 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
18378 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
18379 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
18380 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
18381 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
18382 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
18390 @section Terminology
18392 @cindex terminology
18397 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
18398 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
18399 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
18400 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
18401 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
18405 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
18406 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
18407 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
18408 not posting, and replying is not following up.
18412 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
18416 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
18421 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
18422 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
18423 is all done by the backends.
18427 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
18428 default, way of getting news.
18432 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
18433 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
18438 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
18439 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
18443 A message that has been posted as news.
18446 @cindex mail message
18447 A message that has been mailed.
18451 A mail message or news article
18455 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
18460 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
18465 A line from the head of an article.
18469 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
18470 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
18474 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
18475 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
18476 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
18477 normal @sc{head} format.
18481 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
18482 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
18483 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
18484 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
18485 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
18486 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
18488 @item killed groups
18489 @cindex killed groups
18490 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
18491 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
18493 @item zombie groups
18494 @cindex zombie groups
18495 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
18498 @cindex active file
18499 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
18500 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
18501 is rather large, as you might surmise.
18504 @cindex bogus groups
18505 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
18506 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
18507 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
18510 @cindex activating groups
18511 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
18512 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
18513 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
18517 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
18519 @item select method
18520 @cindex select method
18521 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
18524 @item virtual server
18525 @cindex virtual server
18526 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
18527 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
18528 whole is a virtual server.
18532 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
18533 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
18536 @item ephemeral groups
18537 @cindex ephemeral groups
18538 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
18539 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
18540 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
18543 @cindex solid groups
18544 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
18545 group buffer are solid groups.
18547 @item sparse articles
18548 @cindex sparse articles
18549 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
18550 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
18554 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
18555 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
18559 @cindex thread root
18560 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
18561 articles in the thread.
18565 An article that has responses.
18569 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
18573 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
18574 specified by RFC1153.
18580 @node Customization
18581 @section Customization
18582 @cindex general customization
18584 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
18585 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
18586 for some quite common situations.
18589 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
18590 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
18591 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
18592 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
18596 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
18597 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
18599 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
18600 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
18601 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
18605 @item gnus-read-active-file
18606 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
18607 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
18608 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
18609 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
18610 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
18612 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
18613 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
18614 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
18615 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
18619 @node Slow Terminal Connection
18620 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
18622 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
18623 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
18624 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
18628 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
18629 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
18630 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
18631 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
18632 horizontal and vertical recentering.
18634 @item gnus-visible-headers
18635 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
18636 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
18637 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
18638 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
18640 @item gnus-article-display-hook
18641 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
18643 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
18644 '(gnus-article-hide-headers
18645 gnus-article-hide-signature
18646 gnus-article-hide-citation))
18649 @item gnus-use-full-window
18650 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
18651 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
18652 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
18653 want to read them anyway.
18655 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
18656 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
18659 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
18660 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
18661 lines, which might save some time.
18665 @node Little Disk Space
18666 @subsection Little Disk Space
18669 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
18670 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
18674 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
18675 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
18676 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
18677 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
18680 @item gnus-save-killed-list
18681 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
18682 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
18683 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
18684 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
18690 @subsection Slow Machine
18691 @cindex slow machine
18693 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
18694 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
18696 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
18697 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
18699 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
18700 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
18701 summary buffer faster.
18703 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
18704 processing a bit faster.
18708 @node Troubleshooting
18709 @section Troubleshooting
18710 @cindex troubleshooting
18712 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
18720 Make sure your computer is switched on.
18723 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
18724 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
18728 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
18729 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
18730 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
18731 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
18734 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
18738 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
18739 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
18740 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
18741 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
18742 something like that.
18745 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
18748 @cindex reporting bugs
18750 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
18752 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
18753 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
18754 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
18755 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
18757 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
18758 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
18759 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
18760 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
18763 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
18764 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
18765 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
18766 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
18767 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
18768 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
18770 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
18771 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
18772 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
18775 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
18776 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
18778 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
18779 @cindex ding mailing list
18780 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
18781 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
18785 @node Gnus Reference Guide
18786 @section Gnus Reference Guide
18788 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
18789 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
18790 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
18791 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
18794 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
18795 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
18796 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
18797 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
18798 and general methods of operation.
18801 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
18802 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
18803 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
18804 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
18805 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
18806 * Group Info:: The group info format.
18807 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
18808 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
18809 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
18813 @node Gnus Utility Functions
18814 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
18815 @cindex Gnus utility functions
18816 @cindex utility functions
18818 @cindex internal variables
18820 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
18821 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
18822 Below is a list of the most common ones.
18826 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
18827 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
18828 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
18830 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
18831 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
18832 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
18834 @item gnus-group-real-name
18835 @findex gnus-group-real-name
18836 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
18839 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
18840 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
18841 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
18842 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
18844 @item gnus-get-info
18845 @findex gnus-get-info
18846 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
18848 @item gnus-group-unread
18849 @findex gnus-group-unread
18850 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
18854 @findex gnus-active
18855 The active entry for @var{group}.
18857 @item gnus-set-active
18858 @findex gnus-set-active
18859 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
18861 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18862 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18863 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
18866 @item gnus-continuum-version
18867 @findex gnus-continuum-version
18868 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
18869 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
18872 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
18873 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
18874 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
18876 @item gnus-news-group-p
18877 @findex gnus-news-group-p
18878 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
18880 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18881 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18882 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
18884 @item gnus-server-to-method
18885 @findex gnus-server-to-method
18886 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
18888 @item gnus-server-equal
18889 @findex gnus-server-equal
18890 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
18892 @item gnus-group-native-p
18893 @findex gnus-group-native-p
18894 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
18896 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
18897 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
18898 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
18900 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
18901 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
18902 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
18904 @item group-group-find-parameter
18905 @findex group-group-find-parameter
18906 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
18907 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
18909 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
18910 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
18911 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
18913 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
18914 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
18915 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
18917 @item gnus-check-backend-function
18918 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
18919 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
18920 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
18923 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
18927 @item gnus-read-method
18928 @findex gnus-read-method
18929 Prompts the user for a select method.
18934 @node Backend Interface
18935 @subsection Backend Interface
18937 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
18938 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
18939 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
18940 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
18941 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
18942 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
18944 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
18945 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
18946 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
18947 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
18948 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
18949 been opened, the function should fail.
18951 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
18952 name. Take this example:
18956 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
18957 (nntp-port-number 4324))
18960 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
18961 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
18963 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
18964 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
18965 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
18967 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
18968 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
18969 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
18971 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
18972 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
18973 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
18974 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
18975 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
18976 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
18979 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
18980 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
18981 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
18982 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
18985 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
18988 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
18991 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
18992 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
18993 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
18994 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
18995 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
18996 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
19000 @node Required Backend Functions
19001 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
19005 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
19007 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
19008 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
19009 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
19010 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
19012 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
19013 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
19014 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
19015 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
19017 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
19018 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
19019 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
19020 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
19021 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
19022 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
19023 number, do maximum fetches.
19025 Here's an example HEAD:
19028 221 1056 Article retrieved.
19029 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
19030 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
19031 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
19032 Subject: Re: Something very droll
19033 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
19034 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
19036 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
19037 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
19038 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
19042 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
19043 these in the data buffer.
19045 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
19049 head = error / valid-head
19050 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
19051 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
19052 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
19053 header = <text> eol
19056 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
19057 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
19061 nov-buffer = *nov-line
19062 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
19063 field = <text except TAB>
19066 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
19070 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
19072 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
19073 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
19075 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
19076 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
19077 server. In fact, it should do so.
19079 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
19080 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
19083 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
19085 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
19086 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
19089 There should be no data returned.
19092 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
19094 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
19095 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
19096 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
19097 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
19099 There should be no data returned.
19102 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
19104 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
19105 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
19106 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
19107 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
19109 There should be no data returned.
19112 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
19114 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
19116 There should be no data returned.
19119 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
19121 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
19122 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
19123 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
19124 it would be nice if that were possible.
19126 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
19127 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
19128 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
19129 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
19130 into its article buffer.
19132 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
19133 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
19134 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
19135 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
19136 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
19137 on successful article retrieval.
19140 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
19142 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
19143 making @var{group} the current group.
19145 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
19148 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
19151 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
19154 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
19155 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
19156 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
19157 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
19158 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
19159 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
19160 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
19161 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
19164 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
19165 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
19166 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
19170 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
19172 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
19173 a no-op on most backends.
19175 There should be no data returned.
19178 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
19180 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
19183 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
19186 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
19187 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
19190 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
19191 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
19194 active-file = *active-line
19195 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
19197 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
19200 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
19201 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
19202 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
19205 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
19207 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
19208 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
19209 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
19210 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
19211 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
19212 clear if the posting could not be completed.
19214 There should be no result data from this function.
19219 @node Optional Backend Functions
19220 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
19224 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
19226 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
19227 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
19228 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
19230 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
19231 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
19232 former is in the same format as the data from
19233 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
19234 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
19237 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
19241 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
19243 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
19244 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
19245 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
19246 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
19247 should return the (altered) group info.
19249 There should be no result data from this function.
19252 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
19254 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
19255 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
19256 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
19257 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
19258 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
19259 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
19260 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
19261 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
19263 There should be no result data from this function.
19266 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
19268 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
19269 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
19270 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as IMAP) however carry all
19271 information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to propagate
19272 the mark information to the server.
19274 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
19277 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
19280 Range is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. Action is
19281 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
19282 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
19283 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
19284 mentioned) marks. Mark is a list of marks; where each mark is a
19285 symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
19286 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
19287 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
19288 not limit itself to theese.
19290 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
19291 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
19292 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
19293 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
19295 An example action list:
19298 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
19299 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
19300 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
19303 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
19304 mark on (currently not used for anything).
19306 There should be no result data from this function.
19308 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
19310 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
19311 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
19312 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
19313 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
19314 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
19316 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
19317 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
19318 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
19321 There should be no result data from this function.
19324 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
19326 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
19327 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
19328 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
19329 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
19330 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
19331 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
19332 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
19334 There should be no result data from this function.
19337 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
19339 The result data from this function should be a description of
19343 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
19345 description = <text>
19348 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
19350 The result data from this function should be the description of all
19351 groups available on the server.
19354 description-buffer = *description-line
19358 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
19360 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
19361 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
19362 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
19365 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
19367 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
19369 There should be no return data.
19372 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
19374 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
19375 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
19376 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
19377 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
19378 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
19381 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
19384 There should be no result data returned.
19387 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
19390 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
19391 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
19393 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
19394 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
19395 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
19396 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
19397 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
19398 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
19400 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
19401 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
19404 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
19405 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
19407 There should be no data returned.
19410 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
19412 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
19413 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
19414 this function in short order.
19416 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
19417 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
19419 There should be no data returned.
19422 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
19424 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
19425 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
19427 There should be no data returned.
19430 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
19432 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
19433 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
19434 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
19436 There should be no data returned.
19439 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
19441 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
19442 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
19444 There should be no data returned.
19449 @node Error Messaging
19450 @subsubsection Error Messaging
19452 @findex nnheader-report
19453 @findex nnheader-get-report
19454 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
19455 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
19456 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
19457 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
19458 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
19459 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
19462 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
19464 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
19467 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
19468 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
19469 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
19470 takes one argument---the server symbol.
19472 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
19473 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
19474 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
19477 @node Writing New Backends
19478 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
19480 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
19481 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
19482 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
19483 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
19484 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
19487 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
19488 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
19489 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
19491 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
19492 package called @code{nnoo}.
19494 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
19495 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
19501 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
19502 parameters. For instance:
19505 (nnoo-declare nndir
19509 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
19510 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
19513 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
19514 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
19515 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
19517 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
19518 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
19519 a function in those backends.
19522 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
19523 "Where nndir will look for groups."
19524 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
19527 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
19528 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
19529 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
19531 @item nnoo-define-basics
19532 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
19536 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
19540 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
19541 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
19542 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
19544 @item nnoo-map-functions
19545 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
19546 functions from the parent backends.
19549 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
19550 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19551 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
19554 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
19555 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
19556 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
19557 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
19560 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
19561 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
19562 haven't already been defined.
19568 nnmh-request-newgroups)
19572 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
19573 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
19574 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
19579 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
19582 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
19583 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
19587 (require 'nnheader)
19591 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
19593 (nnoo-declare nndir
19596 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
19597 "Where nndir will look for groups."
19598 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
19600 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
19601 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
19604 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
19605 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
19606 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
19608 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
19609 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
19611 ;;; Interface functions.
19613 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
19615 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
19616 (setq nndir-directory
19617 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
19619 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
19620 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
19621 (push `(nndir-current-group
19622 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
19624 (push `(nndir-top-directory
19625 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
19627 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
19629 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
19630 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19631 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19632 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
19633 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
19637 nnmh-status-message
19639 nnmh-request-newgroups))
19645 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
19646 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
19648 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
19649 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
19650 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
19651 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
19653 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
19654 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
19659 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
19662 The abilities can be:
19666 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
19668 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
19670 This backend supports both mail and news.
19672 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
19675 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
19676 articles and groups.
19678 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
19679 true for almost all backends.
19680 @item prompt-address
19681 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
19682 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
19683 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
19687 @node Mail-like Backends
19688 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
19690 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
19691 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
19692 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
19693 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
19696 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
19697 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
19698 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
19701 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
19702 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
19705 This function takes four parameters.
19709 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
19712 @item exit-function
19713 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
19715 @item temp-directory
19716 Where the temporary files should be stored.
19719 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
19720 performed for one group only.
19723 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
19724 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
19725 find the article number assigned to this article.
19727 The function also uses the following variables:
19728 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
19729 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
19730 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
19731 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
19735 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
19736 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
19740 @node Score File Syntax
19741 @subsection Score File Syntax
19743 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
19744 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
19745 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
19747 Here's a typical score file:
19751 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
19758 BNF definition of a score file:
19761 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
19762 element = rule / atom
19763 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
19764 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
19765 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
19766 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
19768 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
19769 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
19770 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
19771 date-header = "date"
19772 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19773 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19774 score = "nil" / <integer>
19775 date = "nil" / <natural number>
19776 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
19777 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
19778 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
19779 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
19780 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19781 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19782 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
19783 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19784 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
19785 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
19786 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
19787 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
19788 exclude-files / read-only / touched
19789 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
19790 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
19791 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
19792 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
19793 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
19794 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
19795 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
19796 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
19797 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
19798 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
19799 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
19800 eval = "eval" space <form>
19801 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
19804 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
19807 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
19808 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
19809 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
19810 one looong line, then that's ok.
19812 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
19813 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
19817 @subsection Headers
19819 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
19820 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
19821 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
19822 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
19824 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
19825 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
19826 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
19827 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
19828 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
19829 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
19830 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
19832 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
19833 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
19834 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
19835 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
19836 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
19838 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
19839 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
19845 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
19846 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
19848 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
19849 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
19850 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
19851 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
19853 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
19857 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
19860 is transformed into
19863 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
19866 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
19867 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
19870 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
19873 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
19874 is slightly tricky:
19877 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
19883 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
19886 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
19892 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
19899 and is equal to the previous range.
19901 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
19902 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
19903 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
19907 range = simple-range / normal-range
19908 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
19909 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
19910 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
19911 number *[ " " contents ]
19914 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
19915 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
19916 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
19917 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
19918 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
19923 @subsection Group Info
19925 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
19926 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
19927 describes the group.
19929 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
19930 second is a more complex one:
19933 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
19935 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
19936 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
19938 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
19941 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
19942 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
19943 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
19944 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
19945 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
19946 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
19947 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
19948 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
19949 this section is about.
19951 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
19952 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
19953 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
19955 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
19958 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
19959 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
19960 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19961 group = quote <string> quote
19962 ralevel = rank / level
19963 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
19964 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
19965 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
19967 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
19968 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
19969 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
19970 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
19973 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
19974 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
19977 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
19978 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
19981 @item gnus-info-group
19982 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
19983 @findex gnus-info-group
19984 @findex gnus-info-set-group
19985 Get/set the group name.
19987 @item gnus-info-rank
19988 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
19989 @findex gnus-info-rank
19990 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
19991 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
19993 @item gnus-info-level
19994 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
19995 @findex gnus-info-level
19996 @findex gnus-info-set-level
19997 Get/set the group level.
19999 @item gnus-info-score
20000 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
20001 @findex gnus-info-score
20002 @findex gnus-info-set-score
20003 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
20005 @item gnus-info-read
20006 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
20007 @findex gnus-info-read
20008 @findex gnus-info-set-read
20009 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
20011 @item gnus-info-marks
20012 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
20013 @findex gnus-info-marks
20014 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
20015 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
20017 @item gnus-info-method
20018 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
20019 @findex gnus-info-method
20020 @findex gnus-info-set-method
20021 Get/set the group select method.
20023 @item gnus-info-params
20024 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
20025 @findex gnus-info-params
20026 @findex gnus-info-set-params
20027 Get/set the group parameters.
20030 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
20031 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
20033 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
20034 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
20035 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
20036 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
20039 @node Extended Interactive
20040 @subsection Extended Interactive
20041 @cindex interactive
20042 @findex gnus-interactive
20044 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
20045 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
20046 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
20049 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
20050 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
20055 The best thing to do would have been to implement
20056 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
20057 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
20058 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
20059 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
20060 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
20061 @code{interactive}.
20063 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
20068 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
20069 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
20073 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
20074 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
20075 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
20078 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
20082 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
20086 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
20092 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
20093 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
20097 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
20098 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
20099 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
20101 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
20102 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
20103 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
20104 Gnus, that's very useful.
20106 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
20107 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
20108 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
20109 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
20110 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
20111 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
20112 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
20113 following function:
20116 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
20120 (,function ,@@args))
20124 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
20125 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
20126 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
20129 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
20130 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
20131 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
20133 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
20134 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
20135 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
20138 @node Various File Formats
20139 @subsection Various File Formats
20142 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
20143 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
20147 @node Active File Format
20148 @subsubsection Active File Format
20150 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
20151 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
20154 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
20157 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
20158 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
20159 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
20160 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
20161 no.general 1000 900 y
20164 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
20167 active = *group-line
20168 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
20169 group = <non-white-space string>
20171 high-number = <non-negative integer>
20172 low-number = <positive integer>
20173 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
20176 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
20177 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
20180 @node Newsgroups File Format
20181 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
20183 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
20184 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
20185 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
20188 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
20189 Here's the definition:
20193 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
20194 group = <non-white-space string>
20196 description = <string>
20201 @node Emacs for Heathens
20202 @section Emacs for Heathens
20204 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
20205 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
20206 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
20207 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
20208 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
20209 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
20210 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
20214 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
20215 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
20220 @subsection Keystrokes
20224 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
20227 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
20230 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
20231 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
20232 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
20233 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
20234 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
20235 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
20237 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
20238 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
20239 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
20240 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
20241 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
20242 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
20243 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
20245 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
20246 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
20247 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
20248 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
20249 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
20250 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
20251 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
20253 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
20254 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
20255 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
20256 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
20257 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
20263 @subsection Emacs Lisp
20265 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
20266 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
20267 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
20268 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
20270 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
20271 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
20272 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
20273 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
20274 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
20275 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
20276 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
20279 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
20280 write the following:
20283 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
20286 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
20287 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
20288 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
20291 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
20292 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
20293 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
20294 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
20295 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
20297 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
20298 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
20299 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
20303 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
20307 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
20310 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
20311 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
20314 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
20317 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
20318 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
20321 @include gnus-faq.texi