\input texinfo
@setfilename gnus
-@settitle Gnus Manual
-@synindex fn cp
-@synindex vr cp
-@synindex pg cp
+@settitle T-gnus 6.17 Manual
+@syncodeindex fn cp
+@syncodeindex vr cp
+@syncodeindex pg cp
@dircategory Emacs
@direntry
* Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
\ifx\pdfoutput\undefined
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+\usepackage[pdftex,bookmarks,colorlinks=true]{hyperref}
+\usepackage{thumbpdf}
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\makeindex
\begin{document}
-\newcommand{\gnusversionname}{Oort Gnus v.}
+\newcommand{\gnusversionname}{T-gnus v6.17}
\newcommand{\gnuschaptername}{}
\newcommand{\gnussectionname}{}
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+\newcommand{\gnusasis}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
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\newcommand{\gnuslisp}[1]{\gnustt{#1}}
\newcommand{\gnuskbd}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
+\newcommand{\gnuskey}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
\newcommand{\gnusfile}[1]{`\gnustt{#1}'}
\newcommand{\gnusdfn}[1]{\textit{#1}}
\newcommand{\gnusi}[1]{\textit{#1}}
+\newcommand{\gnusr}[1]{\textrm{#1}}
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\newcommand{\gnusauthor}[1]{{\large\textbf{#1}}}
\newcommand{\gnusresult}[1]{\gnustt{=> #1}}
+\newcommand{\gnusacronym}[1]{\textsc{#1}}
+\newcommand{\gnusemail}[1]{\textit{#1}}
\newcommand{\gnusbullet}{{${\bullet}$}}
\newcommand{\gnusdollar}{\$}
}
}{\end{list}}
+\newenvironment{asislist}%
+{\begin{list}{}{
+}
+}{\end{list}}
+
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{\begin{list}{}{
\labelwidth=0cm
\thispagestyle{empty}
-Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
+Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
+2002, 2003, 2004
Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@ifnottex
-This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
+This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
-Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
+Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
@tex
@titlepage
-@title Gnus Manual
+@title T-gnus 6.17 Manual
@author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
@page
@vskip 0pt plus 1filll
-Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
+Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
+2002, 2003
Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
@node Top
-@top The Gnus Newsreader
+@top The gnus Newsreader
@ifinfo
-You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
-can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
+You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using T-gnus. The news
+can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
luck.
-This manual corresponds to Oort Gnus v.
+T-gnus provides @acronym{MIME} features based on @acronym{SEMI} API. So
+T-gnus supports your right to read strange messages including big images
+or other various kinds of formats. T-gnus also supports
+internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
+API. So T-gnus does not discriminate various language communities. Oh,
+if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
+
+This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.17.
@end ifinfo
Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
-allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
+allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
the program.
* Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
* Various:: General purpose settings.
* The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
-* Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
+* Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
* Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
* Key Index:: Key Index.
+Other related manuals
+
+* Message:(message). Composing messages.
+* Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
+* Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
+* PGG:(pgg). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
+
@detailmenu
--- The Detailed Node Listing ---
Group Buffer Format
* Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
-* Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
+* Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
* Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
Group Topics
-* Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
* Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
+* Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
* Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
* Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
* Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
* Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
* Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
* Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
-* Delayed Articles::
+* Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
* Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
* Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
* Threading:: How threads are made.
* Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
* Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
* Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
-* Setting Marks::
-* Generic Marking Commands::
-* Setting Process Marks::
Marking Articles
* Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
* Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
* More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
-* Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
+* Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
Decoding Articles
* Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
* Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
* Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
+* Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
* Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
+* Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
* Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
+* Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
* Article Signature:: What is a signature?
-* Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
+* Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
Alternative Approaches
Article Buffer
* Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
-* Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
+* Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
* Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
* Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
* Misc Article:: Other stuff.
Composing Messages
* Mail:: Mailing and replying.
-* Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
+* Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
* Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
* Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
* Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
* Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
* Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
-* Using GPG:: How to use GPG and MML to sign and encrypt messages
+* Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
Select Methods
* Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
* Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
* Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
-* IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
+* IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
* Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
* Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
* Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
Getting News
-* NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
+* NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
* News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
-@sc{nntp}
+@acronym{NNTP}
* Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
* Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
* Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
* Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
* Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
-* Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
+* Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
* Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
* Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
* Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
-* Archiving Mail:: How to backup your mail.
Mail Sources
Choosing a Mail Back End
* Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
-* Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
+* Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
* Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
* MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
+* Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
* Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
* Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
Browsing the Web
+* Archiving Mail::
* Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
* Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
* Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
* RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
* Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
-@sc{imap}
+@acronym{IMAP}
* Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
+* Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
* Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
-* Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
+* Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
+* A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
+* Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
Other Sources
* Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
* Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
* Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
+* Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
+* Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
* Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
-* Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
+* Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
+* Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
* Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
* Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
-* Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
+* Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
* Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
* Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
Agent Commands
-* Group Agent Commands::
-* Summary Agent Commands::
-* Server Agent Commands::
+* Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
+* Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
+* Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
Scoring
* Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
* NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
* Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
+* Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
* Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
-* Image Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
+* Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
* Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
* Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
+* Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
* Various Various:: Things that are really various.
Formatting Variables
* Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
* Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
-XEmacs Enhancements
+Image Enhancements
-* Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
+* X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
+* Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
* Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
-* Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
+* Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
* XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
-Picons
-
-* Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
-* Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
-* Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
-* Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
-* Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
+Thwarting Email Spam
+
+* The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
+* Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
+* SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
+* Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
+* Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
+* Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
+
+Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
+
+* Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events::
+* Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail::
+* Spam ELisp Package Global Variables::
+* Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples::
+* Blacklists and Whitelists::
+* BBDB Whitelists::
+* Gmane Spam Reporting::
+* Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
+* Blackholes::
+* Regular Expressions Header Matching::
+* Bogofilter::
+* ifile spam filtering::
+* spam-stat spam filtering::
+* SpamOracle::
+* Extending the Spam ELisp package::
+
+Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
+
+* Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
+* Splitting mail using spam-stat::
+* Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
Appendices
+* XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
* History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
* On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
* Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
* Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
* Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
* Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
+* Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
History
* Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
* Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
* Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
+* Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10.
Customization
Back End Interface
-* Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
-* Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
+* Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
+* Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
* Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
* Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
* Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
@end menu
@node Starting Up
-@chapter Starting Gnus
+@chapter Starting gnus
@cindex starting up
@kindex M-x gnus
@findex gnus
-If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
+If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
your Emacs.
@findex gnus-other-frame
@kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
-If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
+If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
@kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
-variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
-@file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
+variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
+@file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
@vindex gnus-select-method
@c @head
-The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
+The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
@dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
foreign groups.
-For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
+For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
@lisp
@vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
@cindex NNTPSERVER
-@cindex @sc{nntp} server
-If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
-@code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
-Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
-(@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
-that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
+@cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
+If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
+@env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
+gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
+(@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
+If that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
+as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
@vindex gnus-nntp-server
If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
@vindex gnus-secondary-servers
@vindex gnus-nntp-server
-You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
-@sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
-(i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
+You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
+@acronym{NNTP} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
+(i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
@findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
@kindex B (Group)
-However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
+However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
@section The First Time
@cindex first time usage
-If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
+If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
be subscribed by default.
@vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
-If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
+If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
something useful.
-Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
+Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
-You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
+You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
help you with most common problems.
-If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
+If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
special.
@section The Server is Down
@cindex server errors
-If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
+If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
-the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
+the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
@c @head
If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
-@code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
+@code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
@section Slave Gnusae
@cindex slave
-You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
+You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
-are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
+are using the two different gnusae to read from two different servers),
that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
-@code{.newsrc} file.
+@file{.newsrc} file.
-To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
+To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
@dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
-Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
-however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
+@findex gnus-slave
+Anyway, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
+however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
@kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
-on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
+on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
-information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
+information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
+If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
+slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
+file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
+incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
+messages as unread that have been read in the master.
@node Fetching a Group
@section Fetching a Group
@findex gnus-fetch-group
It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
-group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
+group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
It takes the group name as a parameter.
Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
-@code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
+@code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
@code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
-work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
+work. I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server
supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
@samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
-This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
+This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
@subsection Subscription Methods
@vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
-What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
+What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
@item gnus-subscribe-interactively
@vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
-Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
+Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask
you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
to will be subscribed hierarchically.
@vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
A closely related variable is
@code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
-mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
+mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
hierarchy or not.
@vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
Yet another variable that meddles here is
@code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
-@code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
-thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
-meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
-more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
-that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
-@code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
-don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
+@code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
+but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
+more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
+used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
+groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
+@code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
+subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
+@code{nil}.
New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
@code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
@section Changing Servers
@cindex changing servers
-Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
+Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
very flaky and you want to use another.
@emph{Wrong!}
Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
-@sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
+@acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
worthless.
gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
+@kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
+@findex gnus-group-clear-data
+Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
+list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
+
After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
+@code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
+to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
+can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
+cache for all groups).
@node Startup Files
@vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
@code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
-the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
+the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
-Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
-@code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
+gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
+@code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes gnus ignore the
@file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
@vindex gnus-startup-file
+@vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
+@vindex version-control
The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
+If you want version control for this file, set
+@code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
+@code{version-control} variable.
@vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
@vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
@end lisp
@vindex gnus-init-file
-When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
+@vindex gnus-site-init-file
+When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
(@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
(@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
-@file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
+@file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
@file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
@cindex dribble file
@cindex auto-save
-Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
+Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
@file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
this file.
-If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
+If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
saved.
@vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
-If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
+If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
@vindex gnus-dribble-directory
Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
-this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
+this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
-file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
+file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
@vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
@cindex active file
@cindex ignored groups
-When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
+When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
@vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
-Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
+Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
-any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
+any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
@vindex gnus-read-active-file
@c @head
The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
-can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
+can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
you actually subscribe to.
Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
-variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
-present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
+variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
+present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
variable.
-If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
+If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
-@sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
+@acronym{NNTP} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
@code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
@item gnus-load-hook
@vindex gnus-load-hook
-A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
+A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
-times you start Gnus.
+times you start gnus.
@item gnus-before-startup-hook
@vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
-A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
+A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
@item gnus-startup-hook
@vindex gnus-startup-hook
-A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
+A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
@item gnus-started-hook
@vindex gnus-started-hook
-A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
+A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
successfully.
@item gnus-setup-news-hook
@item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
@vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
-If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
+If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
@file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
-@file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
+@file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
@item gnus-no-groups-message
@vindex gnus-no-groups-message
-Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
+Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
@item gnus-play-startup-jingle
@vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
-If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
+If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
@item gnus-startup-jingle
@vindex gnus-startup-jingle
The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
-is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
-long as Gnus is active.
+is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
+long as gnus is active.
@iftex
@iflatex
@menu
* Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
-* Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
+* Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
* Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
@end menu
a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
@xref{Formatting Variables}.
-@samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
+@samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
-Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
+Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
@item R
Number of read articles.
+@item U
+Number of unseen articles.
+
@item t
Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
-Gnus uses this estimation because the NNTP protocol provides efficient
-access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting the true
-unread message count is not possible efficiently. For hysterical
-raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of unread
-messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
-interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the
-back end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
+Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
+efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
+the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
+hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
+unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
+interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
+end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
@item y
@item G
Group name.
+@item C
+Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
+comment element in the group parameters.
+
@item D
-Newsgroup description.
+Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
+before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
+@code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
+command.
@item o
@samp{m} if moderated.
@item s
Select method.
+@item B
+If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
+
@item n
Select from where.
group, or a bogus native group.
-@node Group Modeline Specification
-@subsection Group Modeline Specification
-@cindex group modeline
+@node Group Mode Line Specification
+@subsection Group Mode Line Specification
+@cindex group mode line
@vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
The mode line can be changed by setting
(cond (window-system
(setq custom-background-mode 'light)
(defface my-group-face-1
- '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
+ '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
(defface my-group-face-2
- '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
+ '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
+ "Second group face")
(defface my-group-face-3
- '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
+ '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
(defface my-group-face-4
- '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
+ '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
(defface my-group-face-5
- '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
+ '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
(setq gnus-group-highlight
'(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
@item ticked
The number of ticked articles in the group.
@item total
-The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
-MIN-NUMBER plus one.
+The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
+@var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
@item topic
When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
topic being inserted.
@end table
When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
-of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
+of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
functions for snarfing info on the group.
@vindex gnus-group-update-hook
Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
-this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
-group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
-determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
-positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
-negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
+this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
+group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
+determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
+positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
+negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
-(i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
+(i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
@end table
@vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
-The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
-to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
-(unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
-before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
-should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
-number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
-is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
-be fetched.
+The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
+consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
+considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
+(unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
+before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
+articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
+negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
+fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
+most recently will be fetched.
+
+@vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
+@code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
+@code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
+newsgroups.
@vindex gnus-select-group-hook
@vindex gnus-auto-select-first
+@vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
Which article this is is controlled by the
@item unseen
Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
+@item unseen-or-unread
+Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
+there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
+unread article.
+
@item best
Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
@end table
This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
-will be called to place point on a subject line.
+will be called to place point on a subject line.
If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
@item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
@kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
@findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
-If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
+If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
caution.
All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
-can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
+can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
(@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
@cindex making groups
Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
-to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
+to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
+
+@item G M
+@kindex G M (Group)
+@findex gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group
+Make an ephemeral group (@code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group}). Gnus
+will prompt you for a name, a method and an @dfn{address}.
@item G r
@kindex G r (Group)
@kindex G h (Group)
@cindex help group
@findex gnus-group-make-help-group
-Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
+Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
@item G a
@kindex G a (Group)
@findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
@vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
@vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
-Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
+Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
(@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
@item G w
@kindex G w (Group)
@findex gnus-group-make-web-group
-@cindex DejaNews
-@cindex Alta Vista
-@cindex InReference
+@cindex Google
@cindex nnweb
+@cindex gmane
Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
(@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
-include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
+include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
@xref{Web Searches}.
-If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
+If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
to a particular group by using a match string like
-@samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
+@samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
+
+@item G R
+@kindex G R (Group)
+@findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
+Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
+(@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL.
+@xref{RSS}.
@item G DEL
@kindex G DEL (Group)
actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
-read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
+read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
@item G V
@kindex G V (Group)
@vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
-Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
+gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
-groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
+groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
@code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
newsgroups.
(auto-expire . t))
@end example
-We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
+We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
-Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
+Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
is an alist of regexps and values.
The following group parameters can be used:
sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
@vindex gnus-add-to-list
-If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
-@code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
-sending the message.
-
@findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
-@cindex Mail List Groups
+@cindex mail list groups
If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
entering summary buffer.
See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
+@anchor{subscribed}
+@item subscribed
+@cindex subscribed
+@cindex Mail-Followup-To
+@findex gnus-find-subscribed-addresses
+If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
+to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
+mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
+(only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
+headers for your posts to these lists. The second step is to put the
+following in your @file{.gnus.el}
+
+@lisp
+(setq message-subscribed-address-functions
+ '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
+@end lisp
+
+@xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for
+a complete treatment of available MFT support.
+
@item visible
@cindex visible
If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
@item broken-reply-to
@cindex broken-reply-to
Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
-headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
-reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
-@code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
-broken behavior. So there!
+headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
+if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
+can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
+has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
+itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
@item to-group
@cindex to-group
@item newsgroup
@cindex newsgroup
-If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
+If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
news group.
precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
(@pxref{Archived Messages}).
+@strong{Caveat}: Adding @code{(gcc-self . t)} to the parameter list of
+@code{nntp} groups (or the like) isn't valid. An @code{nntp} server
+doesn't accept articles.
+
@item auto-expire
@cindex auto-expire
If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
@item expiry-wait
@cindex expiry-wait
@vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
-If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
-. 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
-@code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
-The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
-the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
+If the group parameter has an element that looks like
+@code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
+@code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
+(@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
+can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
+symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
+
+@item expiry-target
+@cindex expiry-target
+Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
+@code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
@item score-file
@cindex score file group parameter
Display all articles, both read and unread.
@item an integer
-Display the last INTEGER articles in the group. This is the same as
-entering the group with C-u INTEGER.
+Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
+entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
@item default
Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
Here are some examples:
@table @code
-@item [read]
-Display only read articles.
+@item [unread]
+Display only unread articles.
@item [not expire]
Display everything except expirable articles.
The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
-@code{read}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
+@code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
@code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
-@code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{seen} and @code{recent}.
+@code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
@end table
@item comment
@cindex comment
-Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
-are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
-Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
-groups.
+Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
+arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
+group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
@item charset
@cindex charset
@item posting-style
@cindex posting-style
-You can store additional posting style information for this group only
+You can store additional posting style information for this group
here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
@code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
@example
(posting-style
(name "Funky Name")
+ ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
(signature "Funky Signature"))
@end example
@item banner
@cindex banner
-An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
-that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
-"regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
+An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
+that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
+@var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
last signature or any of the elements of the alist
@code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
-For example, if the INBOX.list.sieve group has the @code{(sieve
+For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
@example
- if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
- fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
- @}
+if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
+ fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
+@}
@end example
-The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, , Top, sieve,
-Emacs Sieve}.
+The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
+Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
+
+@item (agent parameters)
+If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of the its parameters
+to control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
+Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
+agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
+minimize the configuration effort.
@item (@var{variable} @var{form})
You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
@code{eval}ed there.
+Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer.
+But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
+message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
+message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
+question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
+Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
+parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
+@file{~/.gnus} file:
+
+@lisp
+(add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
+@end lisp
+
+@vindex gnus-list-identifiers
+A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
+the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
+
+@example
+nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
+@end example
+
+has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
+tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
+the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
+into the group parameters for the group.
+
This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
+@vindex gnus-parameters
Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
example:
-@example
+@lisp
(setq gnus-parameters
'(("mail\\..*"
(gnus-show-threads nil)
("list\\..*"
(total-expire . t)
(broken-reply-to . t))))
-@end example
+@end lisp
String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
the @code{to-group} example shows.
List all groups that have unread articles
(@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
-only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
+only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
@code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
groups).
@item G S m
@kindex G S m (Group)
@findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
-Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name
+Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
(@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
+@item G S n
+@kindex G S n (Group)
+@findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
+Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
+(@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
+
@end table
All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
@item G P m
@kindex G P m (Group)
@findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
-Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name
+Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
(@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
+@item G P n
+@kindex G P n (Group)
+@findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
+Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
+(@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
+
+@item G P s
+@kindex G P s (Group)
+@findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
+Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
+
@end table
And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
@findex gnus-browse-exit
Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
+@item d
+@kindex d (Browse)
+@findex gnus-browse-describe-group
+Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
+
@item ?
@kindex ? (Browse)
@findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
@node Exiting Gnus
-@section Exiting Gnus
-@cindex exiting Gnus
+@section Exiting gnus
+@cindex exiting gnus
-Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
+Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
@table @kbd
@item z
@kindex z (Group)
@findex gnus-group-suspend
-Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
+Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
@kindex q (Group)
@findex gnus-group-exit
@c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
-Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
+Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
@item Q
@kindex Q (Group)
@findex gnus-group-quit
-Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
+Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
@end table
@vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
@vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
-@code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
-@code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
+@vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
+@code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
+@code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
@code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
-exiting Gnus.
-
-@findex gnus-unload
-@cindex unloading
-If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
-the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
-trying to customize meta-variables.
+exiting gnus.
Note:
is a toggling command.)
Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
-dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and
-now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
-@samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
-bothered?
+dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
+Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
+under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
+Hot and bothered?
If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
-@file{~/.gnus} file:
+@file{~/.gnus.el} file:
@lisp
(add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
before all groups.
So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
-@kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the `cut' part of cut and paste. Then,
-move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the `Gnus'
-topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the `paste' part of cut and
+@kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
+move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
+topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
@kindex T # (Topic)
@findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
-(@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
+(@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
+sub-topics unless given a prefix.
@item T M-#
@kindex T M-# (Topic)
@findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
-(@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
+(@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
+sub-topics unless given a prefix.
@item C-c C-x
@kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
@findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
expiry process (if any)
-(@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
+(@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
@item T r
@kindex T r (Topic)
@item A T
@kindex A T (Topic)
@findex gnus-topic-list-active
-List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
+List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
(@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
+@item T M-n
+@kindex T M-n (Topic)
+@findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
+Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
+
+@item T M-p
+@kindex T M-p (Topic)
+@findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
+Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
+
@item G p
@kindex G p (Topic)
@findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
(@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
+@item T S s
+@kindex T S s (Topic)
+@findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
+Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
+@code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
+(@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
+
@end table
-@xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
+When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
+order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
+sorting.
@node Topic Topology
So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
@example
+@group
Gnus
Emacs -- I wuw it!
3: comp.emacs
Misc
8: comp.binaries.fractals
13: comp.sources.unix
+@end group
@end example
So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
@subsection Topic Parameters
@cindex topic parameters
-All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
-ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
-parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
+All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent
+(and ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid
+topic parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}). When the agent is
+enabled, all agent parameters (See Agent Parameters in @ref{Category
+Syntax}) are also valid topic parameters.
In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
parameters:
@item subscribe-level
When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
-the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
+the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
@code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
@end table
verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
@example
+@group
Gnus
Emacs
3: comp.emacs
8: comp.binaries.fractals
13: comp.sources.unix
452: alt.sex.emacs
+@end group
@end example
The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
-This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
+This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
for this to work though.
@item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
@vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
-An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
-non-ASCII group names.
+An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
+non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
For example:
@lisp
@cindex UTF-8 group names
@vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
-is used to show non-ASCII group names. @code{((".*" utf-8))} is the
-default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the default is nil.
+is used to show non-@acronym{ASCII} group names. @code{((".*"
+utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the
+default is @code{nil}.
For example:
@lisp
@kindex R (Group)
@cindex restarting
@findex gnus-group-restart
-Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
+Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
-Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
+gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
@end table
@vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
@cindex FAQ
@cindex ange-ftp
-Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
-(@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
-@code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
-remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
-that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
-between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
-for fetching the file.
-
-If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
+Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} for the current group
+(@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the @acronym{FAQ}
+from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on
+a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
+In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
+between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be
+used for fetching the file.
+
+If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
+@item H c
+@kindex H c (Group)
+@findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
+@vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
+@cindex charter
+Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
+(@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
+prefix argument.
+
+Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
+the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
+messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
+
+@item H C
+@kindex H C (Group)
+@findex gnus-group-fetch-control
+@vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
+@cindex control message
+Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
+@code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
+group if given a prefix argument.
+
+If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
+Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
+@code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
+and displayed in an ephemeral group.
+
+Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
+you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
+Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
+
@item H d
@itemx C-c C-d
@c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
@kindex M-d (Group)
@findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
-prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
+prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
@item H v
@itemx V
@kindex H v (Group)
@cindex version
@findex gnus-version
-Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
+Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
@item ?
@kindex ? (Group)
@cindex info
@cindex manual
@findex gnus-info-find-node
-Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
+Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
@end table
@cindex timestamps
@cindex group timestamps
-It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
+It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
@code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
"%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
@end lisp
+If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
+user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
+trick:
+
+@lisp
+(setq gnus-group-line-format
+ "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
+(defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
+ (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
+ (if time
+ (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
+ "")))
+@end lisp
+
@node File Commands
@subsection File Commands
@vindex gnus-init-file
@cindex reading init file
Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
-@file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
+@file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
@item s
@kindex s (Group)
@vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
-is generated. If it is non-nil (the default) articles is placed in
-all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article is only
-placed in the group with the first matching rule. For example, the
-group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
+is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
+placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
+is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
+example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
"owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
-code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is nil. (When
-@code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-nil, it looks the same except that
-the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
+code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
+@code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
+except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
@example
if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
- fileinto "INBOX.ding";
- stop;
+ fileinto "INBOX.ding";
+ stop;
@}
@end example
-@xref{Top, ,Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
+@xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
@table @kbd
* Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
* Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
* Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
-* Delayed Articles::
+* Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
* Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
* Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
* Threading:: How threads are made.
@vindex gnus-extract-address-components
Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
-@code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
+@code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
@code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
-fast, and too simplistic solution; and
-@code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
-slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
-cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
+fast, and too simplistic solution;
+@code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
+slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
+nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
+answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
+other function instead:
@lisp
(setq gnus-extract-address-components
@code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
@xref{Positioning Point}.
-The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%) %s\n}.
+The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
The following format specification characters and extended format
specification(s) are understood:
@item n
The name (from the @code{From} header).
@item f
-The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
-(@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
+The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
+From Newsgroups}).
@item a
The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
spec in that it uses the function designated by the
@item L
Number of lines in the article.
@item c
-Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
+Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
in some methods (like nnfolder).
+@item k
+Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
+for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
@item I
Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
@item B
A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
-lines.
+lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
+
+@example
+>
++->
+| +->
+| | \->
+| | \->
+| \->
++->
+\->
+@end example
+
+You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
+that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
+replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
+line-drawing glyphs.
+@table @code
+@item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
+@vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
+Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
+instead. The default is @samp{> }.
+
+@item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
+@vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
+Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
+@code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
+
+@item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
+@vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
+Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
+instead. The default is @samp{}.
+
+@item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
+@vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
+Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
+
+@item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
+@vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
+Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
+
+@item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
+@vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
+Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
+
+@item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
+@vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
+Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
+
+@end table
+
@item T
Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
pushes everything after it off the screen).
@item <
Twenty minus thread level spaces.
@item U
-Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
+Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
@item R
This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
@item u
User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
be a letter. Gnus will call the function
-@code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
+@code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{x}}, where @var{x} is the letter
following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
There can only be one such area.
The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
-have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
+have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
(Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
-This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
+This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
@node To From Newsgroups
@vindex nnmail-extra-headers
A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
-to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
-you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
-this variable.
+to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
+If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
+changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
+and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
+regeneration.
@vindex gnus-summary-line-format
You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
@code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
-@file{~/.gnus}:
+@file{~/.gnus.el}:
@lisp
(setq gnus-extra-headers
"Your Name Here")
@end lisp
-Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
-the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
-nntp admin to add:
+(The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
+to fit your needs.)
+
+A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
+convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
+support:
+
+The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
+the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
+nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
@example
Newsgroups:full
without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
@end table
-If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
+If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
to the group buffer.
@vindex gnus-auto-select-next
@item gnus-auto-select-next
If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
-no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
+no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
-empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
-this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
-next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
-special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
-next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
-@code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
-the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
-@code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
-without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
+empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
+this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
+next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
+is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
+confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
+will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
+Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
+command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
+@pxref{Group Levels}.
@item gnus-auto-select-same
@vindex gnus-auto-select-same
@item gnus-auto-center-summary
@vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
-If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
+If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
+If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
+again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
+@kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
+
@item G n
@itemx n
@kindex n (Summary)
@item gnus-select-article-hook
@vindex gnus-select-article-hook
This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
-exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
+exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. If you would
+like each article to be saved in the Agent as you read it, putting
+@code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this hook will do so.
@item gnus-mark-article-hook
@vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
+@vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
+@vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
+If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
+the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
+skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
+what is considered uninteresting with
+@code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
+pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
+
@item DEL
@kindex DEL (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-prev-page
Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
(@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
-@code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
+@code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
+present, that's used instead.
@item S W
@kindex S W (Summary)
@code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
+@item S V
+@kindex S V (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
+Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
+original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
+command uses the process/prefix convention.
+
+@item S B r
+@kindex S B r (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
+Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
+@code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
+If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
+@code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
+the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
+correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
+
+@item S B R
+@kindex S B R (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
+Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
+original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
+(@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
+
@item S o m
@itemx C-c C-f
@kindex S o m (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
@c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
Forward the current article to some other person
-(@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
-is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
-and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
-message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
-as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
-forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
-directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
-but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
-default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
+(@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
+headers of the forwarded article.
@item S m
@itemx m
prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
-This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
+This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
for this to work though.
resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
-the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
+the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
very well fail, though.
ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
@code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
-@code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
+@code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
This command understands the process/prefix convention
(@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
@item S O m
@kindex S O m (Summary)
-@findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
+@findex gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward
Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
-result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
-uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
+result using mail (@code{gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward}). This
+command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
@item S M-c
@kindex S M-c (Summary)
@c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
@findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
-(@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
+(@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
process/prefix convention.
@item S n
@kindex S o p (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-post-forward
Forward the current article to a newsgroup
-(@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
- If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
-of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
-(@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
-message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
-as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
-forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
-directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
-but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
-default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
+(@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
+headers of the forwarded article.
@item S O p
@kindex S O p (Summary)
-@findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
+@findex gnus-summary-digest-post-forward
@cindex digests
@cindex making digests
Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
-(@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
+(@code{gnus-summary-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
process/prefix convention.
@item S u
want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
+Gnus ensures that only you can cancel your own messages using a
+@code{Cancel-Lock} header (@pxref{Canceling News, Canceling News, ,
+message, Message Manual}).
+
If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
your original article.
(months) and @code{Y} (years).
@item
-A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
+A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
@code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
@code{nndraft:delayed} group.
+@findex gnus-delay-send-queue
And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
@table @code
@item gnus-delay-initialize
@findex gnus-delay-initialize
-By default, this function installs the @kbd{C-c C-j} key binding in
-Message mode and @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
-@code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts two optional arguments,
-@code{no-keymap} and @code{no-check}. If @code{no-keymap} is non-nil,
-the @kbd{C-c C-j} binding is not intalled. If @code{no-check} is
-non-nil, @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed.
-For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to change the
-keymap but not to change @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. Presumably, you
-want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles. Just don't
-forget to set that up :-)
+By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
+@code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
+argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
+@code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
+argument is ignored.
+
+For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
+Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
+Just don't forget to set that up :-)
@end table
Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
-articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
+articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
any time.
@end table
You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
-in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
+in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
@item
answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
(@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
+@item
@vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
-@vindex gnus-recent-mark
-Articles that are ``recently'' arrived in the group will be marked
-with an @samp{N} in the second column (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Most
-back end doesn't support the mark, in which case it's not shown.
-
@item
@vindex gnus-cached-mark
Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
@item
@vindex gnus-recent-mark
-Articles that according to the back end haven't been seen by the user
+Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
-(@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all back ends support this
-mark, in which case it simply never appear.
+(@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
+mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
+@code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
@item
@vindex gnus-unseen-mark
-Articles that haven't been seen by the user before are marked with a
-@samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
+Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
+with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
+Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
+
+@item
+@vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
+When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
+downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
+@samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
+(The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
+use.)
+
+@item
+@vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
+When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
+not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
+are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
+articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
+@code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
+
+@item
+@vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
+The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
+automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
+download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
+explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
+(The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
+use.)
@item
@vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
article, you could say something like:
@lisp
+@group
(add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
(defun my-alter-summary-map ()
(local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
+@end group
@end lisp
+@noindent
or
@lisp
@subsection Setting Process Marks
@cindex setting process marks
+Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
+used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
+process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
+articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
+commands into the cache. For more information,
+@pxref{Process/Prefix}.
+
@table @kbd
@item M P p
@findex gnus-uu-mark-region
Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
+@item M P g
+@kindex M P g (Summary)
+@findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
+Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
+
@item M P t
@kindex M P t (Summary)
@findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
@end table
-Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
+Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
set process marks based on article body contents.
@kindex / / (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
-(@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
+(@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
matching articles.
@item / a
@kindex / a (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
-(@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
+(@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
matching articles.
@item / x
@findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
-(@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
+(@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
matching articles.
@item / u
(@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
the stack.
+@item / .
+@kindex / . (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
+Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
+(@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
+
@item / v
@kindex / v (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
@item / p
@kindex / p (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-parameter
+@findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
group parameter predicate
-(@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-parameter}). See @pxref{Group
-Parameters} for more on this predicate.
+(@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
+Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
@item / E
@itemx M S
@item / c
@kindex / c (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
-Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
+Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
(@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
@item / C
@kindex / C (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
Mark all excluded unread articles as read
-(@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
+(@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
@item / N
@kindex / N (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
-Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
+Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
@item / o
@kindex / o (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
-Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
+Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
prefix, fetch this number of articles.
@end table
or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
-@pxref{Customizing Threading}.
+@ref{Customizing Threading}.
First, a quick overview of the concepts:
* Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
* Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
* More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
-* Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
+* Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
@end menu
@table @code
@item gnus-summary-make-false-root
@vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
-If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
+If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
read or killed the root in a previous session.
-When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
-something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
+When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
+something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
There are four possible values:
@iftex
@item dummy
@vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
+@vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
+If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
+ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
@item empty
Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
@item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
@vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
-variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
+variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
-variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
+variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
@cindex fuzzy article gathering
-If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
+If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
Matching}).
@item gnus-simplify-whitespace
@findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
Remove excessive whitespace.
+
+@item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
+@findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
+Remove all whitespace.
@end table
You may also write your own functions, of course.
@table @code
@item gnus-fetch-old-headers
@vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
-If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
-more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
-would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
-connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
-to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
-that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
-fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
-overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
-@code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
-expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
+If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
+more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
+like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
+many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
+@code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
+number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
+old headers only works if the back end you are using carries overview
+files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
+@code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
+the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can
+do about that.
This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
(@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
+@item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
+@vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
+Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
+newsgroups.
+
@item gnus-build-sparse-threads
@vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
-@dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
+@dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
-lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
-question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
+lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
+question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
-thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
+thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
@code{nil} by default.
If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
generated.
+This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
+Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
+@code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
+
+Here's an example:
+
+@lisp
+(setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
+ '(or gnus-article-unread-p
+ gnus-article-unseen-p))
+@end lisp
+
+(It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
+unread, but you get my drift.)
+
+
@item gnus-thread-expunge-below
@vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
All threads that have a total score (as defined by
@item gnus-parse-headers-hook
@vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
-Hook run before parsing any headers.
+Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
+@code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
+@code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
+@code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
@item gnus-alter-header-function
@vindex gnus-alter-header-function
@item T s
@kindex T s (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-show-thread
-Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
+Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
(@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
@item T h
@item T n
@kindex T n (Summary)
-@itemx C-M-n
+@itemx C-M-f
@kindex C-M-n (Summary)
@itemx M-down
@kindex M-down (Summary)
@item T p
@kindex T p (Summary)
-@itemx C-M-p
+@itemx C-M-b
@kindex C-M-p (Summary)
@itemx M-up
@kindex M-up (Summary)
@vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
-a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
+a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
@findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
@findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
@findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
+@findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
@vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
+@findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number
+@findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date
If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
@code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
-@code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
+@code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
+@code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
+@code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
+@code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
@code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
@findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
@findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
@findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
+@findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
@findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
-If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
-you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
-It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
-it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
-sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
-@code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
-@code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
+If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
+other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
+variable. It is very similar to the
+@code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
+different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
+predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
+@code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
+@code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
+@code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
+@code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
say something like:
@cindex article pre-fetch
@cindex pre-fetch
-If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
+If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
-article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
+article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
-article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
+article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
-article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
+article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
connection is blocked.
-To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
+To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
-extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
+extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
-the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
+the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
extra connection.
-Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
+Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
you really want to.
@vindex gnus-asynchronous
@vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
@findex gnus-async-read-p
There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
-articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
-return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
-pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
-@code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
-data structure as the only parameter.
+articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
+variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
+function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
+to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which
+returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
+article data structure as the only parameter.
-If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
+If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
+than 100 lines, you could say something like:
@lisp
(defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
@end lisp
These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
-preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
+preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
@vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
@cindex article caching
@cindex caching
-If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
+If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
-command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
+command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
@vindex gnus-cache-active-file
The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
-of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
+of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
-gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
+gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
file.
+@findex gnus-cache-move-cache
+@code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
+@code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
+where, isn't that cool?
@node Persistent Articles
@section Persistent Articles
If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
-by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
+by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
-that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
+that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
increase memory usage some.
@vindex gnus-keep-backlog
-If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
+If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
-variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
+variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
@emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
-This variable is @code{nil} by default.
+The default value is 20.
@node Saving Articles
approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
(@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
+For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
+save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
+command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
+
@vindex gnus-save-all-headers
-If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
+If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
unwanted headers before saving the article.
@vindex gnus-saved-headers
@item O r
@kindex O r (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
-Save the current article in rmail format
+Save the current article in Rmail format
(@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
@item O f
@findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
+If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
+complete headers in the piped output.
@item O P
@kindex O P (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-muttprint
@vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
-Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
-external program Muttprint (see
-@uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/}). The program name and
-options to use is controlled by the variable
-@code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}. (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
+Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
+external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
+Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
+variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
+(@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
@end table
@vindex gnus-default-article-saver
You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
-Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
+gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
functions below, or you can create your own.
@table @code
@findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
@vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
@findex gnus-plain-save-name
-This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
+This is the default format, @dfn{Babyl}. Uses the function in the
@code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
@vindex gnus-article-save-directory
All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
-@code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
+@env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
default.
As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
@end table
@vindex gnus-split-methods
-You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
+You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
-save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
-related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
+save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
+related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
like:
@lisp
name completion over the results from applying this variable.
This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
-means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
+means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
@code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
name.
a spool, you could
@lisp
-(setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
+(setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
(setq gnus-default-article-saver
- 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
+ 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
@end lisp
Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
-For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
+For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
@vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
@cindex sox
This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
-for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
+for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
say something like:
@lisp
(setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
@item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
@vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
-This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
+This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
user and default view rules.
@item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
@item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
@vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
-Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
+Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
-@code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
+@code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
kludgey.
@item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
@vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
@cindex metamail
Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
-commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
+commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
@code{metamail} for viewing.
thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
-think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
+think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
@item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
@vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
@cindex viewing files
@cindex pseudo-articles
-After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
+After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
-containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
+containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
-Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
+Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
these articles easier.
@menu
-* Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
-* Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
-* Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
-* Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
-* Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
-* Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
-* Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
-* Article Signature:: What is a signature?
-* Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
+* Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
+* Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
+* Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
+* Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
+* Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
+* Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
+* Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
+* Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
+* Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
+* Article Signature:: What is a signature?
+* Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
@end menu
@vindex gnus-cite-face-list
List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
-Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
+gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
@item gnus-supercite-regexp
@findex gnus-article-hide
Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
(@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
-headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
+headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
@item W W h
@kindex W W h (Summary)
Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
@code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
-@samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
+@samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
@table @code
@end table
-@item W W p
-@kindex W W p (Summary)
-@findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
-@vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
-Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
-@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
-signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
-articles that have signatures in them do:
-@lisp
-;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
-
-(setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
-
-;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
-;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
-
-(add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
- (lambda ()
- (save-excursion
- (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
- (mc-verify))))
-@end lisp
-
@item W W P
@kindex W W P (Summary)
@findex gnus-article-hide-pem
-Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
+Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
(@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
@item W W B
@kindex W W B (Summary)
@findex gnus-article-strip-banner
+@vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
+@vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
@cindex banner
@cindex OneList
@cindex stripping advertisements
corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
used.
+Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
+the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
+@code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
+
+@table @code
+
+@item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
+@vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
+Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
+@code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
+matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
+symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
+a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
+address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
+sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
+banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
+sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
+
+@lisp
+("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
+ "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
+@end lisp
+
+@end table
+
@item W W c
@kindex W W c (Summary)
@findex gnus-article-hide-citation
@item gnus-cited-lines-visible
@vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
-shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
+shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
@end table
you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
the server.
+@item g
+Force redisplaying of the current article
+(@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
+If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
+interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
+(@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
+
@item W l
@kindex W l (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
#15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
+@item W m
+@kindex W m (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-morse-message
+Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
+
@item W t
@item t
@kindex W t (Summary)
@item W v
@kindex W v (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
+@findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
-(@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
+(@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
+
+@item W m
+@kindex W m (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
+Toggle whether to run the article through @acronym{MIME} before
+displaying (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
@item W o
@kindex W o (Summary)
like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
+@item W Y f
+@kindex W Y f (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
+@cindex Outlook Express
+Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
+unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
+(@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
+
+@item W Y u
+@kindex W Y u (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
+@vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
+@vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
+Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
+what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
+@code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
+@code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
+maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
+(@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
+
+@item W Y a
+@kindex W Y a (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
+Repair a broken attribution line.@*
+(@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
+
+@item W Y c
+@kindex W Y c (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
+Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
+(@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
+
@item W w
@kindex W w (Summary)
@findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
(@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
-@item W q
@kindex W q (Summary)
@findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
-Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
-non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
-@samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
-readable to me. Note that the this is usually done automatically by
-Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
-header that says that this encoding has been done.
-If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
+Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
+sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
+makes strings like @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which
+doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually done
+automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
+@code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
+has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
@item W 6
@kindex W 6 (Summary)
@findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
-Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
-Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
-(i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that the this is usually done
-automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
-@code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
-been done.
-If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
+Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
+one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
+non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
+usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
+@code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
+has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
@item W Z
@kindex W Z (Summary)
common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
+@item W u
+@kindex W u (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
+Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
+outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
+split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
+the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
+
@item W h
@kindex W h (Summary)
@findex gnus-article-wash-html
-Treat HTML (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}).
-Note that the this is usually done automatically by Gnus if the message
-in question has a @code{Content-Type} header that says that this type
-has been done.
+Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
+usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
+@code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
+
If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
+@vindex gnus-article-wash-function
+The default is to use the function specified by
+@code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
+Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
+@acronym{HTML}, but this is controlled by the
+@code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
+can use include:
+
+@table @code
+@item w3
+Use Emacs/w3.
+
+@item w3m
+Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
+
+@item links
+Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
+
+@item lynx
+Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
+
+@item html2text
+Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
+
+@end table
+
@item W b
@kindex W b (Summary)
@findex gnus-article-add-buttons
@item W p
@kindex W p (Summary)
@findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
-Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
-Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
-usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
-public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
-message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
-@uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
+Verify a signed control message
+(@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
+@code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
+hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
+the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
+message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
+available at @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
@item W s
@kindex W s (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
-Verify a signed (PGP, PGP/MIME or S/MIME) message
-(@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}).
-
-@item W u
-@kindex W u (Summary)
-@findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
-Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
-
-@item W n
-@kindex W n (Summary)
-@findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
-Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
-(@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
+Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
+@acronym{S/MIME}) message
+(@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
-@item W W H
-@kindex W W H (Summary)
-@findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
+@item W a
+@kindex W a (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
-article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
+article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
@item W E l
@kindex W E l (Summary)
@xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
+@node Article Header
+@subsection Article Header
+
+These commands perform various transformations of article header.
+
+@table @kbd
+
+@item W G u
+@kindex W G u (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
+Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
+
+@item W G n
+@kindex W G n (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
+Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
+(@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
+
+@item W G f
+@kindex W G f (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
+Fold all the message headers
+(@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
+
+@item W E w
+@kindex W E w (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
+Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
+(@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
+
+@end table
+
+
@node Article Buttons
@subsection Article Buttons
@cindex buttons
with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
button on these references.
+@vindex gnus-button-man-handler
Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
-Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
-two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
-article heads:
+Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
+Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
+one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
@table @code
This is an alist where each entry has this form:
@lisp
-(REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
+(@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
@end lisp
@table @var
@item regexp
-All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
-external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
-@samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
+All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
+considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
+embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
+variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
+@code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
@item button-par
Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
@item use-p
This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
-avoid false matches.
+avoid false matches. Often variables named
+@code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
+Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
+
+@c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
@item function
This function will be called when you click on this button.
used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
@lisp
-(HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
+(@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
@end lisp
@var{header} is a regular expression.
+@end table
+
+@subsubsection Related variables and functions
+
+@table @code
+@item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
+@xref{Article Button Levels}.
+
+@c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
@item gnus-button-url-regexp
@vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
default values of the variables above.
+@c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
+
+@item gnus-button-man-handler
+@vindex gnus-button-man-handler
+The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
+argument with a string naming the man page.
+
+@c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
+
+@item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
+@vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
+Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
+
+@item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
+@vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
+This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
+@samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
+message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
+@code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
+a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
+@code{ask}, always query the user what do do. If it is a function, this
+function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
+function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
+@code{ask}. The default value is the function
+@code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
+
+@item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
+@findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
+Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
+address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
+it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
+string is invalid.
+
+@item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
+@vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
+An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
+@code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
+
+@c Stuff related to gnus-button-tex-level
+
+@item gnus-button-ctan-handler
+@findex gnus-button-ctan-handler
+The function to use for displaying CTAN links. It must take one
+argument, the string naming the URL.
+
+@item gnus-ctan-url
+@vindex gnus-ctan-url
+Top directory of a CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network) archive used
+by @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler}.
+
+@c Misc stuff
+
@item gnus-article-button-face
@vindex gnus-article-button-face
Face used on buttons.
@xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
+@node Article Button Levels
+@subsection Article button levels
+@cindex button levels
+The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
+the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
+buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
+already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
+more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
+you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
+specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
+variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
+
+@lisp
+;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
+(setq gnus-parameters
+ '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
+ ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
+ ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
+@end lisp
+
+@table @code
+
+@item gnus-button-browse-level
+@vindex gnus-button-browse-level
+Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
+news URLs. Related variables and functions include
+@code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
+@code{browse-url-browser-function}.
+
+@item gnus-button-emacs-level
+@vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
+Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
+@code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
+@code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
+@code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
+@code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
+@code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
+@code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
+@code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
+@code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
+@code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
+@code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
+
+@item gnus-button-man-level
+@vindex gnus-button-man-level
+Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
+See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
+
+@item gnus-button-message-level
+@vindex gnus-button-message-level
+Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
+Related variables and functions include
+@code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
+@code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
+@code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
+@code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
+
+@item gnus-button-tex-level
+@vindex gnus-button-tex-level
+Controls the display of references to @TeX{} or LaTeX stuff, e.g. for CTAN
+URLs. See the variables @code{gnus-ctan-url},
+@code{gnus-button-ctan-handler},
+@code{gnus-button-ctan-directory-regexp}, and
+@code{gnus-button-handle-ctan-bogus-regexp}.
+
+@end table
+
+
@node Article Date
@subsection Article Date
X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
@end example
+@vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
replace it.
(gnus-start-date-timer)
@end lisp
-in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
+in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
command.
@cindex x-face
@cindex smileys
-These commands add various frivolous display gimmics to the article
+These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
@code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
-Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
-try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
+@code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
+headers (@pxref{Face}).
Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
-All these functions are toggles--if the elements already exist,
+Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
+try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
+
+All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
they'll be removed.
@table @kbd
Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
(@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
+@item W D d
+@kindex W D d (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-display-face
+Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
+(@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
+
@item W D s
@kindex W D s (Summary)
-@findex gnus-article-toggle-smiley
-Toggle whether to display smileys
-(@code{gnus-article-toggle-smiley}).
+@findex gnus-treat-smiley
+Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
@item W D f
@kindex W D f (Summary)
@kindex W D n (Summary)
@findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
-@code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
+@code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
+
+@item W D D
+@kindex W D D (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-remove-images
+Remove all images from the article buffer
+(@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
@end table
@lisp
(setq gnus-signature-separator
- '("^-- $" ; The standard
- "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
- "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
- ; line of dashes. Shame!
- "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
- "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
- "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
+ '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
+ "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
+ "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
+ ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
+ "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
+ "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
+ "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
@end lisp
The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
signature after all.
-@node Article Miscellania
-@subsection Article Miscellania
+@node Article Miscellanea
+@subsection Article Miscellanea
@table @kbd
@item A t
@node MIME Commands
-@section @sc{mime} Commands
+@section MIME Commands
@cindex MIME decoding
@cindex attachments
@cindex viewing attachments
The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
-instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
+instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
@table @kbd
@item b
@itemx K v
@kindex b (Summary)
@kindex K v (Summary)
-View the @sc{mime} part.
+View the @acronym{MIME} part.
@item K o
@kindex K o (Summary)
-Save the @sc{mime} part.
+Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
@item K c
@kindex K c (Summary)
-Copy the @sc{mime} part.
+Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
@item K e
@kindex K e (Summary)
-View the @sc{mime} part externally.
+View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
@item K i
@kindex K i (Summary)
-View the @sc{mime} part internally.
+View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
@item K |
@kindex K | (Summary)
-Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
+Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
@end table
-The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
+The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
the same manner:
@table @kbd
@item K b
@kindex K b (Summary)
-Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
+Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
parts.
@item X m
@kindex X m (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-save-parts
-Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
+Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
(@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
@item M-t
@kindex M-t (Summary)
-@findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
+@findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
(@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
@item W M w
@kindex W M w (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
(@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
@item W M c
@kindex W M c (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-decode-charset
Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
(@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
-groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
-MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
-the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
+groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
+include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
+parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
@item W M v
@kindex W M v (Summary)
-View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
+@findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
+View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
(@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
@end table
@table @code
@item gnus-ignored-mime-types
@vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
-This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
+This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
@code{nil}.
'("text/x-vcard"))
@end lisp
+@item gnus-article-loose-mime
+@vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
+If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
+before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
+when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
+default is @code{nil}.
+
+@item gnus-article-emulate-mime
+@vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
+There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
+is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
+this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
+see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
+Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}.
+
@item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
@vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
-This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
-this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
-displayed or this variable is overriden by
+This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
+this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
+displayed or this variable is overridden by
@code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
-@code{(".*/.*")}.
+@code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
+@code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
@item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
@vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
-This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
-this list will have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
+This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
+this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
displayed. This variable overrides
@code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
+This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
+is @code{nil}.
To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
-@code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} to the default value.
+@code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
+
+@item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
+@vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
+If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
+default value is @code{nil}.
@item gnus-article-mime-part-function
@vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
-For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
+For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
@vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
@item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
-Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
+Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
@vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
@item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
-List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
+List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
Ready-made functions include@*
@end lisp
@noindent
-to your @file{.gnus} file.
+to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
@end table
@section Charsets
@cindex charsets
-People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
+People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
-newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
+newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
-In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
+@vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
+In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
@code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
@vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
-determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
+determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
quoted-printable header encoding.
Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
-If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
+If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
@lisp
@end lisp
This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
-the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
+the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
@findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
+@item C-c C-s C-r
+@kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
+Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
+
@item C-c C-s C-o
@kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
@findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
-if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
+if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
(@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
-ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
+ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
-@kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
+@kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
article.
@item A R (Summary)
@kindex M-^ (Summary)
@cindex Message-ID
@cindex fetching by Message-ID
-You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
+You can also ask the @acronym{NNTP} server for an arbitrary article, no
matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
(@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
@code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
@vindex gnus-refer-article-method
If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
-you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
-would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
+you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
+would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
necessary.
match.
Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
-then ask Deja if that fails:
+then ask Google if that fails:
@lisp
(setq gnus-refer-article-method
'(current
- (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
+ (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
@end lisp
Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
-do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox}
-and @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
-@code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder} and @code{nnimap}1 are only able to locate
-articles that have been posted to the current group. (Anything else
-would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at
-all.
+do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
+@code{nnbabyl}, @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnml}, are able to locate
+articles from any groups, while @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
+only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current
+group. (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does
+not support this at all.
@node Alternative Approaches
@section Alternative Approaches
Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
-Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
+gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
@menu
* Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
@cindex trees
@vindex gnus-use-trees
-If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
+If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
@code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
in the tree buffer.
@item gnus-tree-brackets
@vindex gnus-tree-brackets
This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
-``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
-(@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
-default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
+``sparse'' articles. The format is
+@example
+((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
+ (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
+ (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
+@end example
+and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
@item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
@vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
@item gnus-tree-minimize-window
@vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
-If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
-buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
+If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
+buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
@example
+@group
@{***@}
|--------------------------\-----\-----\
(***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
[Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
|
[Paa]
+@end group
@end example
If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
-following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
+following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
@lisp
(setq gnus-use-trees t
@vindex gnus-preserve-marks
Move the article from one mail group to another
(@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
-@var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
+@code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
@item B c
@kindex B c (Summary)
@c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
(@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
-@var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
+@code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
@item B B
@kindex B B (Summary)
(@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
+@item B I
+@kindex B I (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-create-article
+Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
+(@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
+@code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
+
@item B r
@kindex B r (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-respool-article
+@vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
@code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
-Marks will be preserved if @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
+Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
(which is the default).
@item B w
@kindex e (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-edit-article
@kindex C-c C-c (Article)
+@findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
-(@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
-@kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
+(@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
+@kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
@item B q
@kindex B q (Summary)
@kindex B t (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
-when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
+when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
@item B p
@kindex B p (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
-Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
+Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
@code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
(@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
just not have arrived yet.
+@item K E
+@kindex K E (Summary)
+@findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
+@vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
+Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
+The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
+variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
+
@end table
@vindex gnus-move-split-methods
@cindex moving articles
-If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
+If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
(@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
@end menu
@table @code
+@vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
+@item gnus-summary-display-while-building
+If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
+built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
+If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
+lines. The default is @code{nil}.
+
+@vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
+@item gnus-summary-display-arrow
+If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
+current article.
+
@vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
@item gnus-summary-mode-hook
This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
@vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
@item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
-When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
+When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
-If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
+If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
@code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
article---it'll be as if it never existed.
@item gnus-newsgroup-variables
A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
variables and their default values (when the default values are not
-nil), that should be made global while the summary buffer is active.
-These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
-while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
-buffers. For example:
+@code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary buffer is
+active. These variables can be used to set variables in the group
+parameters while still allowing them to affect operations done in
+other buffers. For example:
@lisp
(setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
- '(message-use-followup-to
- (gnus-visible-headers .
- "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
+ '(message-use-followup-to
+ (gnus-visible-headers .
+ "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
@end lisp
@end table
@kindex H f (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
@vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
-Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
-current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
-FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
-on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
-In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
-between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
-be used for fetching the file.
+Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} (list of frequently asked questions)
+for the current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try
+to get the @acronym{FAQ} from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which
+is usually a directory on a remote machine. This variable can also be
+a list of directories. In that case, giving a prefix to this command
+will allow you to choose between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp}
+or @code{efs} will probably be used for fetching the file.
@item H d
@kindex H d (Summary)
@item H i
@kindex H i (Summary)
@findex gnus-info-find-node
-Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
+Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
@end table
string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
search backward instead.
-For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
+For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string RET #} will put the process mark on
all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
@item M-&
Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
(@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
+@item Y d
+@kindex Y d (Summary)
+@findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
+Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
+(@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
+
@end table
@table @kbd
@item Z Z
+@itemx Z Q
@itemx q
@kindex Z Z (Summary)
+@kindex Z Q (Summary)
@kindex q (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-exit
@vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
@vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
+@vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
@c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
Exit the current group and update all information on the group
(@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
(@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
@item Z R
+@itemx C-x C-s
@kindex Z R (Summary)
+@kindex C-x C-s (Summary)
@findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
Exit this group, and then enter it again
(@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
@vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
-If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
+If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
(Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
@cindex cross-posting
@cindex Xref
-@cindex @sc{nov}
+@cindex @acronym{NOV}
One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
-correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
+correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
(which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
-does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
+does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
@cindex LIST overview.fmt
@cindex overview.fmt
-To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
+To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
@samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
@node Duplicate Suppression
@section Duplicate Suppression
-By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
+By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
(@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
@enumerate
@item
-The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
+The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
is evil and not very common.
@item
-The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
+The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
@file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
@item
You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
-different @sc{nntp} servers.
+different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
@item
You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
@vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
-However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
+However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
session are suppressed.
@item gnus-duplicate-list-length
default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
@end table
-If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
+If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
@code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
-you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
+you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
-so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
+so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
@code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
to you to figure out, I think.
@section Security
Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
-The formats that are supported are PGP (plain text, RFC 1991 format),
-PGP/MIME (RFC 2015/3156) and S/MIME, however you need some external
-programs to get things to work:
+The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
+and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
+things to work:
@enumerate
@item
-To verify or decrypt PGP messages, you have to install mailcrypt or
-gpg.el as well as a OpenPGP implementation (such as GnuPG). @xref{Using GPG}.
+To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
+install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG. The Lisp interface
+to GnuPG included with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG
+Manual}), but Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
@item
-To verify or decrypt S/MIME message, you need to install OpenSSL.
-OpenSSL 0.9.6 or newer is recommended.
+To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
+or newer is recommended.
@end enumerate
More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
-manual. @xref{Security, ,Security, message, The Message Manual}.
+manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
@table @code
@item mm-verify-option
@vindex mm-verify-option
Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
@code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
-protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
+protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
@item mm-decrypt-option
@vindex mm-decrypt-option
Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
-@code{always}, always decrypt @code{known}, only decrypt known
-protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
+@code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
+protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
+
+@item mml1991-use
+@vindex mml1991-use
+Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
+@acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
+@code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
+deprecated.
+
+@item mml2015-use
+@vindex mml2015-use
+Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
+@acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
+@code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
+deprecated.
@end table
+@cindex snarfing keys
+@cindex importing PGP keys
+@cindex PGP key ring import
+Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
+key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
+rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
+allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
+through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
+@file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
+Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
+Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
+(@pxref{Using MIME}).
+
+@example
+application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
+@end example
+@noindent
+This happens to also be the default action defined in
+@code{mailcap-mime-data}.
+
@node Mailing List
@section Mailing List
+@cindex mailing list
+@cindex RFC 2396
+@kindex A M (summary)
+@findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
-either add a `to-list' group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
-possibly using @kbd{A M} in the summary buffer, or say:
-
-@lisp
-(add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-mailing-list-mode)
-@end lisp
+add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
+possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
+summary buffer.
That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
@end table
+
@node Article Buffer
@chapter Article Buffer
@cindex article buffer
The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
-tell Gnus otherwise.
+tell gnus otherwise.
@menu
* Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
-* Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
+* Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
* Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
* Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
* Misc Article:: Other stuff.
article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
-@code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
+@code{References}, etc. ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
-For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
-and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
+For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
+and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
@lisp
(setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
You can hide further boring headers by setting
@code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
-list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
+list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead it
lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
from sight.
Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
@code{Newsgroups} header.
@item reply-to
-Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
-@code{From} header.
+Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same addresses as
+the @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group
+parameter is set.
@item newsgroups
Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
name.
@item to-address
Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
-the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
+the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
+@item to-list
+Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
+the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
+@item cc-list
+Remove the @code{CC} header if it only contains the address identical to
+the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
@item date
Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
old.
Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
@end table
-To include these three elements, you could say something like;
+To include these three elements, you could say something like:
@lisp
(setq gnus-boring-article-headers
@node Using MIME
@section Using MIME
-@cindex @sc{mime}
+@cindex @acronym{MIME}
Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
while people stand around yawning.
-@sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
+@acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
while all newsreaders die of fear.
-@sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
+@acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
-@vindex gnus-display-mime-function
-@findex gnus-display-mime
-Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
-to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
-default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
-display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
-
-The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
-@sc{mime} button:
-
-@table @kbd
-@findex gnus-article-press-button
-@item RET (Article)
-@kindex RET (Article)
-@itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
-Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
-(@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
-
-@findex gnus-mime-view-part
-@item M-RET (Article)
-@kindex M-RET (Article)
-@itemx v (Article)
-Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
-method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
-
-@findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
-@item t (Article)
-@kindex t (Article)
-View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
-(@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
-
-@findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
-@item C (Article)
-@kindex C (Article)
-Prompt for a charset, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
-charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
-
-@findex gnus-mime-save-part
-@item o (Article)
-@kindex o (Article)
-Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
-(@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
-
-@findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
-@item C-o (Article)
-@kindex C-o (Article)
-Prompt for a file name, then save the @sc{mime} object and strip it from
-the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
-suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
-like. The stripped @sc{mime} object will be referred via the
-message/external-body @sc{mime} type.
-(@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
-
-@findex gnus-mime-copy-part
-@item c (Article)
-@kindex c (Article)
-Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
-(@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
-
-@findex gnus-mime-print-part
-@item p (Article)
-@kindex p (Article)
-Print the @sc{mime} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
-command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
-@file{.mailcap} file.
-
-@findex gnus-mime-inline-part
-@item i (Article)
-@kindex i (Article)
-Insert the contents of the @sc{mime} object into the buffer
-(@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
-the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
-do semi-manual charset stuff (see
-@code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @pxref{Paging the
-Article}).
-
-@findex gnus-mime-internalize-part
-@item E (Article)
-@kindex E (Article)
-View the @sc{mime} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
-viewer is available, use an external viewer
-(@code{gnus-mime-internalize-part}).
-
-@findex gnus-mime-externalize-part
-@item e (Article)
-@kindex e (Article)
-View the @sc{mime} object with an external viewer.
-(@code{gnus-mime-externalize-part}).
-
-@findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
-@item | (Article)
-@kindex | (Article)
-Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
-
-@findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
-@item . (Article)
-@kindex . (Article)
-Interactively run an action on the @sc{mime} object
-(@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
-
-@end table
-
-Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
-determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
-manual.
-
-It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
-buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
-group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
-decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
-comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
-because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
-try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
-to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
-to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
+@vindex gnus-show-mime
+@vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
+@findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
+gnus handles @acronym{MIME} by pushing the articles through
+@code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
+@code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
+calls the @acronym{SEMI} MIME-View program to actually do the work. For
+more information on @acronym{SEMI} MIME-View, see its manual page
+(however it is not existed yet, sorry).
+
+Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
+@acronym{MIME} all the time. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime} set,
+then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article buffer.
+These can't be avoided.
+
+In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
+from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
+you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
+@acronym{MIME} has decoded the sound file in the article and some
+horrible sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you
+can't find the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are
+starting to look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't,
+and you can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else
+in the room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll
+feel rather stupid.)
Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
-Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
+To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
+@code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
+non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
+buffer when there are nobody else.
+
+Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
@node Customizing Articles
@cindex article customization
A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
-exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
+exist. You can call these functions interactively
+(@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
called automatically when you select the articles.
To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
(typep "text/x-vcard"))
@end lisp
+@item
+@code{mime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}' is
+non-nil.
+
@end enumerate
You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
-to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
+to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
considered to contain just a single part.
@table @code
@item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
@item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
+
+@xref{Article Buttons}.
+
@item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
-@item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
-@item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
-@item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
+@item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
+@item gnus-treat-decode-article-as-default-mime-charset (t, integer)
+
+@xref{Article Washing}.
+
+@item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
+@item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
+@item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
@item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
@item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
@item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
@item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
-@item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
+
+@xref{Article Date}.
+
+@item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
+@item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
+@item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
+
+@xref{Picons}.
+
@item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
-@item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
+
+@item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
+
+@vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
+Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
+is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
+
+@xref{Smileys}.
+
+@item gnus-treat-display-x-face (head)
+
+@xref{X-Face}.
+
+@item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
+
+@xref{Face}.
+
@item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
@item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
@item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
@item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
@item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
@item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
+@item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
+@item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
+
+@xref{Article Hiding}.
+
@item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
@item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
@item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
-@item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
+
+@xref{Article Highlighting}.
+
@item gnus-treat-play-sounds
-@item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
-@item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
-@item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
-@item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
-@item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
-@item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
-@item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
@item gnus-treat-translate
@item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
-@item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
-@item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
-@item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
+
@item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
+@item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
@item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
-@item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
+@item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
+
+@xref{Article Header}.
+
+
@end table
@vindex gnus-part-display-hook
@kindex SPACE (Article)
@findex gnus-article-next-page
Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
+This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
@item DEL
@kindex DEL (Article)
@findex gnus-article-prev-page
Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
+This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
@item C-c ^
@kindex C-c ^ (Article)
@findex gnus-article-prev-button
Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
+@item R
+@kindex R (Article)
+@findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
+Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
+(@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
+wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
+region.
+
+@item F
+@kindex F (Article)
+@findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
+Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
+(@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
+a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
+region.
+
+
@end table
@vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
@item gnus-article-decode-hook
-@cindex MIME
-Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
+@cindex @acronym{MIME}
+Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
@code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
@vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
@code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
+@vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
+@item gnus-article-over-scroll
+If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
+no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
+
@vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
@item gnus-article-mode-line-format
This variable is a format string along the same lines as
@end table
@item m
-The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
+The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
@end table
@vindex gnus-page-delimiter
This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
(formfeed).
+
+@cindex IDNA
+@cindex internationalized domain names
+@vindex gnus-use-idna
+@item gnus-use-idna
+This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
+internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
+@samp{Cc} headers. This requires
+@uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
+variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
+
@end table
@cindex followup
@cindex post
@cindex using gpg
+@cindex using s/mime
+@cindex using smime
@kindex C-c C-c (Post)
All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
-article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The
+article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
@menu
* Mail:: Mailing and replying.
-* Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
+* Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
* Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
* Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
* Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
* Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
* Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
-* Using GPG:: How to use GPG and MML to sign and encrypt messages
+* Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
@end menu
-Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
+Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
@item gnus-uu-digest-headers
@vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
-headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
+headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
+@code{nil} include all headers.
@item gnus-add-to-list
@vindex gnus-add-to-list
If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
+@item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
+@vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
+This can also be a function receiving the group name as the only
+parameter which should return non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is
+needed, or a regular expression matching group names, where
+confirmation is should be asked for.
+
+If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
+press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
+
+@item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
+@vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
+If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
+@code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
+useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
+
@end table
Thank you for asking. I hate you.
-@vindex gnus-post-method
+It can be quite complicated.
-It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will post using the same
-select method as you're reading from (which might be convenient if
-you're reading lots of groups from different private servers).
-However. If the server you're reading from doesn't allow posting,
-just reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
-(extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
-then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
+@vindex gnus-post-method
+When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
+(@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
+Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
+reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
+groups from different private servers). However. If the server
+you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
+want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
+fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
+@code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
@lisp
(setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
-Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
+gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
-If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
+If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
for posting.
Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
you can set this variable to @code{native}.
+When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
+The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
+your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
+sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
+using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @acronym{SMTP}
+server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
+@code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
+package correctly. An example:
+
+@lisp
+(setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
+ smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
+;; The following variable needs to be set because of the FLIM version of
+;; smtpmail.el. Which smtpmail.el is used depends on the `load-path'.
+(setq smtp-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
+@end lisp
+
+To the thing similar to this, there is
+@code{message-smtpmail-send-it}. It is useful if your ISP requires
+the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. See the
+documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
+
+Other possible choices for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
+@code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
+and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
@node Mail and Post
@section Mail and Post
@cindex mailing lists
If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
-gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
+gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
(@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
still a pain, though.
+@item gnus-user-agent
+@vindex gnus-user-agent
+@cindex User-Agent
+
+This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
+User-Agent header. It can be one of the symbols @code{gnus} (show only
+Gnus version), @code{emacs-gnus} (show only Emacs and Gnus versions),
+@code{emacs-gnus-config} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus system
+configuration), @code{emacs-gnus-type} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus
+system type) or a custom string. If you set it to a string, be sure to
+use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
+
@end table
You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
@code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
is the default.
+For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
+@kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
+Group Commands}).
+
@vindex gnus-message-archive-method
-@code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
+@code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
use to store sent messages. The default is:
@lisp
This variable can be used to do the following:
-@itemize @bullet
-@item
-a string
+@table @asis
+@item a string
Messages will be saved in that group.
Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
@samp{nnml:foo}.
-@item
-a list of strings
+
+@item a list of strings
Messages will be saved in all those groups.
-@item
-an alist of regexps, functions and forms
+
+@item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
-@item
-@code{nil}
+
+@item @code{nil}
No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
-@end itemize
+@end table
Let's illustrate:
group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
-Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
+gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
but the latter is the preferred method.
-@item gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
-@vindex gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
+@item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
+@vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
+@item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
+@vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
+If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
+and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
+@code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
+non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
+changed in the future.
+
@end table
The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
-If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header (the
-next element in the match) in the original article , and compare that to
-the last regexp in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function
-will be called with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the
-variable will be referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be
-@code{eval}ed. In any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value,
-then the style is said to @dfn{match}.
-
-Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
+If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
+will look in the original article for a header whose name is
+@var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
+@var{regexp} are strings. (The original article is the one you are
+replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
+followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
+@code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
+no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
+referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
+any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
+said to @dfn{match}.
+
+Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
-attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
-@code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
-attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
-a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
-article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed.
-If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the
-result is thrown away.
+attribute name can be one of:
+
+@itemize @bullet
+@item @code{signature}
+@item @code{signature-file}
+@item @code{x-face-file}
+@item @code{address}, overriding @code{user-mail-address}
+@item @code{name}, overriding @code{(user-full-name)}
+@item @code{body}
+@end itemize
+
+The attribute name can also be a string or a symbol. In that case,
+this will be used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in
+the headers of the article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header
+name will be removed. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form
+is evaluated, and the result is thrown away.
The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
-are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
+are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
+is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
+references chars lines xref extra.
+
+@vindex message-reply-headers
If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
(organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
("^rec.humor"
(signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
- ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
+ ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
(signature my-quote-randomizer))
- ((message-news-p)
+ (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
(signature my-news-signature))
- (header "to" "larsi.*org"
- (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
- ((posting-from-work-p)
+ (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
+ ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
+ ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
+ ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
+ (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
+ ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
(signature-file "~/.work-signature")
(address "user@@bar.foo")
(body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
@code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
if you fill many roles.
+Setting the @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} variable will make
+posting-styles allow to have distinctive names. You can specify an
+arbitrary posting-style when article posting with @kbd{S P} in the
+summary buffer. @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} is an alist which maps
+the names to styles. Once a posting-style is added to the alist, we can
+import it from @code{gnus-posting-styles}. If an attribute whose name
+is @code{import} is found, Gnus will look for the attribute value in
+@code{gnus-named-posting-styles} and expand it in place.
+
+Here's an example:
+
+@lisp
+(setq gnus-named-posting-styles
+ '(("Default"
+ (signature-file "~/.signature")
+ (name "User Name")
+ ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
+ (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
+ ("Emacs"
+ (import "Default")
+ (organization "The Church of Emacs"))))
+@end lisp
+
+The posting-style named "Emacs" will inherit all the attributes from
+"Default" except @code{organization}.
+
@node Drafts
@section Drafts
other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
-some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
+some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
-unsubscribe it.
+unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
+a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
+behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
+be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
+simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
+Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
+correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
@c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
@c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
Articles}).
@findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
+@kindex D s (Draft)
@findex gnus-draft-send-message
+@kindex D S (Draft)
If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
(@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
in the buffer.
+@findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
+@kindex D t (Draft)
If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
@kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
@emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
-These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
+These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
(Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
-you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
+you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
articles until some later time when the server feels better.
The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
(@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
-@node Using GPG
-@section Using GPG
+@node Signing and encrypting
+@section Signing and encrypting
@cindex using gpg
+@cindex using s/mime
+@cindex using smime
+
+Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
+@acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
+decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
+@code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
+
+@vindex gnus-message-replysign
+@vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
+@vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
+Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
+messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
+are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
+@code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
+@code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
+@code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
+automatically encrypted messages.
+
+Instructing @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a
+@acronym{MIME} part is done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for
+signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
-Gnus has an ALPHA support to GPG that's provided by @file{gpg.el}. See
-@code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} to enable Gnus to
-verify or decrypt messages accordingly.
+@table @kbd
-To use this correctly with GPG, you'll need the following lisp code in your
-@file{~/.emacs} or @file{~/.gnus}:
+@item C-c C-m s s
+@kindex C-c C-m s s (Message)
+@findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
-@lisp
-(require 'gpg)
-(setq mml2015-use 'gpg)
-(setq mml1991-use 'gpg)
-(setq gpg-temp-directory (expand-file-name "~/.gnupg/tmp"))
-@end lisp
+Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
+
+@item C-c C-m s o
+@kindex C-c C-m s o (Message)
+@findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
+
+Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
+
+@item C-c C-m s p
+@kindex C-c C-m s p (Message)
+@findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
+
+Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
+
+@item C-c C-m c s
+@kindex C-c C-m c s (Message)
+@findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
-The @code{gpg-temp-directory} need to point to a directory with permissions set
-to 700, for your own safety.
+Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
-To sign or encrypt your message you may choose to use the MML Security
-menu or @kbd{C-c C-m s p} to sign your message using PGP/MIME,
-@kbd{C-c C-m s s} to sign your message using S/MIME. There's also
-@kbd{C-c C-m c p} to encrypt your message with PGP/MIME and @kbd{C-c
-C-m c s} to encrypt using S/MIME. @xref{Security, ,Security, message,
-The Message Manual}.
+@item C-c C-m c o
+@kindex C-c C-m c o (Message)
+@findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
-Gnus will ask for your passphrase and then it will send your message, if
-you've typed it correctly.
+Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
+
+@item C-c C-m c p
+@kindex C-c C-m c p (Message)
+@findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
+
+Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
+
+@item C-c C-m C-n
+@kindex C-c C-m C-n (Message)
+@findex mml-unsecure-message
+Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
+
+@end table
+
+@xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
@node Select Methods
@chapter Select Methods
A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
-@sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
+@acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
personal mail group.
A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
group as.
-For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
+For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
@samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
@samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
* Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
* Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
* Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
-* IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
+* IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
* Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
* Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
* Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
back end represents a virtual server.
For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
-different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
-on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
+different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
+on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
-@sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
-hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
+@acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
+hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
@cindex proxy
@cindex firewall
-If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
+If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
-on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
+on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
should probably look something like this:
(nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
@end lisp
+See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
+
If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
telnet connection to the news server as follows:
articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
-would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
-could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
+would probably be best to use @code{nnml} to read the cache. You
+could also use @code{nnspool} or @code{nnmh}, though.
-Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
+Type @kbd{a nnml RET cache RET}.
-You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
+You should now have a brand new @code{nnml} virtual server called
@samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
will contain the following:
@lisp
-(nnspool "cache")
+(nnml "cache")
@end lisp
Change that to:
@lisp
-(nnspool "cache"
- (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
- (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
- (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
+(nnml "cache"
+ (nnml-directory "~/News/cache/")
+ (nnml-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
@end lisp
Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
@node Server Variables
@subsection Server Variables
+@cindex server variables
+@cindex server parameters
One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
-change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
-won't change the "derived" variables.
+change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
+won't change the ``derived'' variables.
This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
@code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
(nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
@end lisp
+Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
@node Servers and Methods
@subsection Servers and Methods
Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
(@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
+@item L
+@kindex L (Server)
+@findex gnus-server-offline-server
+Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
+
@end table
@cindex news back ends
A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
-only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
+only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
or it can read from a local spool.
@menu
-* NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
+* NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
* News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
@end menu
@node NNTP
-@subsection @sc{nntp}
+@subsection NNTP
@cindex nntp
-Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
-You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
+Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
+You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
server as the, uhm, address.
-If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
+If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
@findex nntp-send-authinfo
@findex nntp-send-mode-reader
is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
-commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
+commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
@code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
present in this hook.
@vindex nntp-authinfo-function
@findex nntp-send-authinfo
@vindex nntp-authinfo-file
-This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
+This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
@code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
@item nntp-maximum-request
@vindex nntp-maximum-request
-If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this back end
+If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
@item nntp-connection-timeout
@vindex nntp-connection-timeout
If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
-regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
+regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
@c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
@c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
@c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
-@c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
+@c changes after connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will simply sit
@c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
@c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
@c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
@item nntp-server-hook
@vindex nntp-server-hook
-This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
+This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @acronym{NNTP}
server.
@item nntp-buggy-select
@item nntp-nov-is-evil
@vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
-If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
-variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
+If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
+variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
can be used.
@item nntp-xover-commands
@vindex nntp-xover-commands
-@cindex nov
+@cindex @acronym{NOV}
@cindex XOVER
-List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
+List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
"XOVERVIEW")}.
@item nntp-nov-gap
@vindex nntp-nov-gap
-@code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
+@code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
-article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
+article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
lines that you will not need. This variable says how
big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
@code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
@item nntp-prepare-server-hook
@vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
-A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
+A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
@item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
@vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
@item nntp-record-commands
@vindex nntp-record-commands
If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
-@sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
-buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
+@acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
+buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
that doesn't seem to work.
@item nntp-open-connection-function
Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
+
+@item nntp-read-timeout
+@vindex nntp-read-timeout
+How long nntp should wait between checking for the end of output.
+Shorter values mean quicker response, but is more CPU intensive. The
+default is 0.1 seconds. If you have a slow line to the server (and
+don't like to see Emacs eat your available CPU power), you might set
+this to, say, 1.
+
+@item nntp-list-options
+@vindex nntp-list-options
+List of newsgroup name used for a option of the LIST command to restrict
+the listing output to only the specified newsgroups. Each newsgroup name
+can be a shell-style wildcard, for instance, @dfn{fj.*}, @dfn{japan.*},
+etc. Fortunately, if the server can accept such a option, it will
+probably make gnus run faster. You may use it as a server variable as
+follows:
+
+@lisp
+(setq gnus-select-method
+ '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
+ (nntp-list-options ("fj.*" "japan.*"))))
+@end lisp
+
+@item nntp-options-subscribe
+@vindex nntp-options-subscribe
+Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will be subscribed
+unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
+It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
+server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
+command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
+
+@lisp
+(setq gnus-select-method
+ '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
+ (nntp-options-subscribe "^fj\\.\\|^japan\\.")))
+@end lisp
+
+@item nntp-options-not-subscribe
+@vindex nntp-options-not-subscribe
+Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will not be subscribed
+unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
+It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
+server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
+command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
+
+@lisp
+(setq gnus-select-method
+ '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
+ (nntp-options-not-subscribe "\\.binaries\\.")))
+@end lisp
@end table
@menu
@cindex direct connection functions
These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
-between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
+between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
(@pxref{Common Variables}).
This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
remote system.
+@findex nntp-open-tls-stream
+@item nntp-open-tls-stream
+Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
+this you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GNUTLS}
+installed. You then define a server as follows:
+
+@lisp
+;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
+;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
+;;
+(nntp "snews.bar.com"
+ (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
+ (nntp-port-number )
+ (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
+@end lisp
+
@findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
@item nntp-open-ssl-stream
Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
-this you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
-installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also
-need @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distribution, for instance). You then
-define a server as follows:
+this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL} or
+@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay} installed. You
+then define a server as follows:
@lisp
-;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
-;;
-;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
+;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
+;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
;;
(nntp "snews.bar.com"
(nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
- (nntp-port-number "snews")
+ (nntp-port-number 563)
(nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
@end lisp
@findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
@item nntp-open-telnet-stream
-Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
+Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
@cindex indirect connection functions
These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
-intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
+intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
-the "via" family of connection: they're all prefixed with "via" to make
+the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
@item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
@findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
-to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
+to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
@code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
@vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
@samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
+
+@item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
+@vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
+List of strings to be used as the switches to
+@code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
+@samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
+@samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
+this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
+the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
+host.
@end table
@item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
@vindex nntp-via-envuser
If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
-login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
+login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
@item nntp-via-shell-prompt
@vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
@subsubsection Common Variables
The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
-pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
+pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
affected.
@table @code
@item nntp-pre-command
@vindex nntp-pre-command
-A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native connection
-function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream} and
-@code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is where you would put a @samp{SOCKS}
-wrapper for instance.
+A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
+connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
+@code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is
+where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
@item nntp-address
@vindex nntp-address
-The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
+The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
@item nntp-port-number
@vindex nntp-port-number
-Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{nntp}.
+Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
+@samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
+@acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you may want to use integer ports rather
+than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
+@samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
+not work with named ports.
@item nntp-end-of-line
@vindex nntp-end-of-line
-String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
+String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
using a non native connection function.
@item nntp-telnet-command
@vindex nntp-telnet-command
-Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
-@samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
-the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
+Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
+@samp{telnet}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
+just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
+@samp{telnet}.
@item nntp-telnet-switches
@vindex nntp-telnet-switches
@item nnspool-nov-directory
@vindex nnspool-nov-directory
-Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
+Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
@file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
@item nnspool-lib-dir
@item nnspool-active-file
@vindex nnspool-active-file
-The path to the active file.
+The name of the active file.
@item nnspool-newsgroups-file
@vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
-The path to the group descriptions file.
+The name of the group descriptions file.
@item nnspool-history-file
@vindex nnspool-history-file
-The path to the news history file.
+The name of the news history file.
@item nnspool-active-times-file
@vindex nnspool-active-times-file
-The path to the active date file.
+The name of the active date file.
@item nnspool-nov-is-evil
@vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
-If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
+If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
that it finds.
@item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
@vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
@cindex sed
If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
-relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
-load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
+relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
+@code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
+there.
@end table
* Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
* Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
* Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
-* Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
+* Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
* Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
* Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
* Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
-* Archiving Mail:: How to backup your mail.
@end menu
But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
-you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
+you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
Mail}.
What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
they want to treat a message.
Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
-via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
+via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
archived somewhere else.
Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
-These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
+These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
and things will happen automatically.
-For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
-mail" back end), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
+For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
+mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
@lisp
(setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
-directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
+directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
like any other group.
@subsection Splitting Mail
@cindex splitting mail
@cindex mail splitting
+@cindex mail filtering (splitting)
@vindex nnmail-split-methods
The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
mail belongs in that group.
The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
-expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
+expression should @emph{always} be @samp{*} so that it matches any mails
that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
-rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
-In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
+rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled.
+In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.)
If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
function of your choice. This function will be called without any
The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
@code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
-that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
+that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{*}) group.
@vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
@cindex crosspost
variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
@kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
-@kindex nnmail-split-history
+@findex nnmail-split-history
If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
Group Commands}).
+@vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
+Header lines longer than the value of
+@code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
+function.
+
+@vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
+@vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
+By default the splitting codes @acronym{MIME} decodes headers so you
+can match on non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. The
+@code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset} variable specifies the default
+charset for decoding. The behaviour can be turned off completely by
+binding @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to @code{nil}, which is
+useful if you want to match articles based on the raw header data.
+
+@vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
+By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
+specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
+(@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
+@emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
+@code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
+splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
+other kinds of entries.)
+
Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
@node Mail Sources
@subsection Mail Sources
-Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
-POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
-instance.
+Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
+a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
+maildir, for instance.
@menu
* Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
@table @code
@item :path
-The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
-environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
+The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
+environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
+(usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
+
+@item :prescript
+@itemx :postscript
+Script run before/after fetching mail.
@end table
An example file mail source:
(file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
@end lisp
-Or using the default path:
+Or using the default file name:
@lisp
(file)
@end lisp
-If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
-use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
-file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
-mail.
+If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
+to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
+You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
+mail spool while moving the mail.
If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
@item directory
+@vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
-That is, mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in the
-group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
-of @code{.spool}.) Setting
-@code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus
-to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you
-want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
+That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
+directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
+will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
+to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
+@code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
+Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
+if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
+
+@vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
+There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
+that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
+applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
Keywords:
@table @code
@item :path
-The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
+The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
value.
@item :suffix
@end lisp
@item pop
-Get mail from a POP server.
+Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
Keywords:
@table @code
@item :server
-The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
-@code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
+The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
+@env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
@item :port
-The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
+The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (eg,
@samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
@item :user
-The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
+The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
name.
@item :password
-The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
-prompted.
+The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
+the user is prompted.
@item :program
-The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
-a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
+The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
+should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
@example
fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
@item :function
-The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
-called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
-be moved to.
+The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
+function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
+mail should be moved to.
@item :authentication
This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
@code{password}.
+@item :connection
+What stream to use for connecting to the server, this can be the symbol
+@code{ssl}, the symbol @code{tls} or others. The default is @code{nil}
+and use insecure connections. Note that for SSL/TLS, you need external
+programs and libraries:
+
+@itemize @bullet
+@item
+@dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL@. Requires OpenSSL (the program
+@samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
+library @samp{ssl.el}.
+@item
+@dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to SSL)@.
+Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
+@samp{starttls}.
+@end itemize
+
+@item :leave
+Non-@code{nil} if mail is to be left on the server and UIDL used for
+message retrieval. The default is @code{nil}.
+
@end table
If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
@code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
-Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
-default user name, and default fetcher:
+Here are some examples. Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server,
+using the default user name, and default fetcher:
@lisp
(pop)
@table @code
@item :path
-The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
-taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
-@samp{~/Maildir/}.
+The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
+taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
+@file{~/Maildir/}.
@item :subdirs
The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
@samp{("new" "cur")}.
@end lisp
@item imap
-Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
-as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
-some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
-and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
-more information.
+Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
+@acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie
+with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
+to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
+@acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for more information.
-Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, SSL/TLS and STARTTLS support you
+Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} and STARTTLS support you
may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
Keywords:
@table @code
@item :server
-The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
-@code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
+The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
+@env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
@item :port
-The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
-@samp{993} for SSL/TLS connections.
+The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
+@samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
@item :user
-The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
+The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
name.
@item :password
-The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
+The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
prompted.
@item :stream
What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
-@samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{ssl},
-@samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
+@samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
+@samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
@item :authentication
Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
@item :program
When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
-mapped into the `imap-shell-program' variable. This should be a
+mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
@code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
@example
The name of the server.
@item l
-User name from `imap-default-user'.
+User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
@item p
The port number of the server.
@item :predicate
The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
-sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
-articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
+sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
+articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
-complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 §6.4.4.
+complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
@item :fetchflag
How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
-but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 §2.3.2.
+but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
@item :dontexpunge
-If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
-after finishing the fetch.
+If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
+mailbox after finishing the fetch.
@end table
-An example @sc{imap} mail source:
+An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
@lisp
(imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
@end lisp
@item webmail
-Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
-webmail.netscape.com, www.netaddress.com, www.my-deja.com.
-
-NOTE: Now mail.yahoo.com provides POP3 service, so @sc{pop} mail source
-is suggested.
+Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{http://www.hotmail.com/},
+@uref{http://webmail.netscape.com/}, @uref{http://www.netaddress.com/},
+@uref{http://mail.yahoo.com/}.
-NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
+NOTE: Webmail largely depends on cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
required for url "4.0pre.46".
-WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
+WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
Keywords:
prompted.
@item :dontexpunge
-If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
-folder after finishing the fetch.
+If non-@code{nil}, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to
+trash folder after finishing the fetch.
@end table
@table @code
@item :plugged
-If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
-directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
+If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
+use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
+example:
@lisp
(setq mail-sources
@table @code
@item mail-source-crash-box
@vindex mail-source-crash-box
-File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
+File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
@file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
@item mail-source-delete-incoming
@vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
-If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
+If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
+@code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
+files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
+(This will only happen, when receiving new mail). You may also set
+@code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
+@code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
+
+@item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
+@vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
+If non-@code{nil}, ask for for confirmation before deleting old incoming
+files. This variable only applies when
+@code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
+
+@item mail-source-ignore-errors
+@vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
+If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
@item mail-source-directory
@vindex mail-source-directory
@item mail-source-movemail-program
@vindex mail-source-movemail-program
-If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
-@code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
+If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
+@code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
@end table
@code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
themselves.
-If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
-mail server, you'd say something like:
+If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
+@acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
@lisp
(setq mail-sources
@vindex nnmail-split-hook
@item nnmail-split-hook
-@findex article-decode-encoded-words
-@findex RFC 1522 decoding
-@findex RFC 2047 decoding
+@findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
+@cindex RFC 1522 decoding
+@cindex RFC 2047 decoding
Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
+@item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
+@vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
+This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
+Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
+recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
+
+This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
+(@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
+@code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
+
@end table
Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
@lisp
-;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
-;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
-;; from real errors.
+;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
+;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
+;; @r{from real errors.}
(| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
"mail.misc"))
- ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
- ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
- ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
+ ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
+ ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
+ ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
(& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
- ;; Other mailing lists...
+ ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
(any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
(any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
- ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
- ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
- ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
- ;; message was really cross-posted.
+ ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
+ ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
+ ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
+ ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
(any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
(any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
- ;; People...
+ ;; @r{People@dots{}}
(any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
- ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
+ ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
"misc.misc")
@end lisp
-This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
-recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
-the five possible split syntaxes:
-
-@enumerate
-
-@item
-@samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
-name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
-examples.
-
-@item
-@code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
-@code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
-first element of which is a string, then store the message as
-specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
-@var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
-matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
-matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
-@var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
-
-@item
-@code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
-element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
-one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
-the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
-
-@item
-@code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
-element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
+This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a
+(possibly) recursive structure where each split may contain other
+splits. Here are the possible split syntaxes:
-@item
-@code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
-(i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
+@table @code
-@item
-@code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
-a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
-be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
-function should return a @var{split}.
+@item group
+If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name. Normal
+regexp match expansion will be done. See below for examples.
+
+@item (@var{field} @var{value} [- @var{restrict} [@dots{}] ] @var{split})
+If the split is a list, the first element of which is a string, then
+store the message as specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field}
+(a regexp) contains @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict}
+(yet another regexp) matches some string after @var{field} and before
+the end of the matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If
+none of the @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
+
+@item (| @var{split} @dots{})
+If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
+bar), then process each @var{split} until one of them matches. A
+@var{split} is said to match if it will cause the mail message to be
+stored in one or more groups.
+
+@item (& @var{split} @dots{})
+If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then
+process all @var{split}s in the list.
+
+@item junk
+If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save (i.e., delete)
+this message. Use with extreme caution.
+
+@item (: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})
+If the split is a list, and the first element is @samp{:}, then the
+second element will be called as a function with @var{args} given as
+arguments. The function should return a @var{split}.
@cindex body split
For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
@lisp
(defun split-on-body ()
(save-excursion
- (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
- (goto-char (point-min))
- (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
- "string.group")))
+ (save-restriction
+ (widen)
+ (goto-char (point-min))
+ (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
+ "string.group"))))
@end lisp
-The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
-when the @code{:} function is run.
+The buffer is narrowed to the message in question when @var{function}
+is run. That's why @code{(widen)} needs to be called after
+@code{save-excursion} and @code{save-restriction} in the example
+above. Also note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will
+not be downloaded by default. You need to set
+@code{nnimap-split-download-body} to t to do that (@pxref{Splitting in
+IMAP}).
-@item
-@code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
-element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
-called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
-return a split.
+@item (! @var{func} @var{split})
+If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{!}, then
+@var{split} will be processed, and @var{func} will be called as a
+function with the result of @var{split} as argument. @var{func}
+should return a split.
-@item
-@code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
+@item nil
+If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
-@end enumerate
+@end table
In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
@var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
@samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
@vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
-@var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
-are expanded as specified by the variable
-@code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
-the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
-value.
+@var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
+they are expanded as specified by the variable
+@code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
+where the @sc{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @sc{cdr}
+contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
+@code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
+
+@table @code
+@item from
+Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
+@item to
+Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
+@samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
+@item any
+Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
+@end table
@vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
@code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
groupings 1 through 9.
+@vindex nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words
+@code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} controls whether partial
+words are matched during fancy splitting.
+
+Normally, regular expressions given in @code{nnmail-split-fancy} are
+implicitly surrounded by @code{\<...\>} markers, which are word
+delimiters. If this variable is true, they are not implicitly
+surrounded by anything.
+
+@example
+(any "joe" "joemail")
+@end example
+
+In this example, messages sent from @samp{joedavis@@foo.org} will
+normally not be filed in @samp{joemail}. With
+@code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} set to t, however, the
+match will happen. In effect, the requirement of a word boundary is
+removed and instead the match becomes more like a grep.
+
@findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
@code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
it once per thread.
-To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
-@code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
-you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
-feature, like so:
+To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
+and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
+value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
+using the colon feature, like so:
@lisp
-(setq nnmail-split-fancy
+(setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
+ nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
+ nnmail-split-fancy
'(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
- ;; other splits go here
+ ;; @r{other splits go here}
))
@end lisp
This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
-non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
-file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
-together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
-messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
-@code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
-In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
-specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
-When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
-unless the group name matches the regexp
-@code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
-that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
-number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
-(A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
+non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
+in the file specified by the variable
+@code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
+(the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
+invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
+at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
+and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
+for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
+corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
+@code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
+recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
+somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
+still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
+300 kBytes in size.)
@vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
messages goes into the new group.
+Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
+want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
+outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
+@code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
+Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
+``outgoing'' group.
+
@node Group Mail Splitting
@subsection Group Mail Splitting
@findex gnus-group-split
If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
-You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
+You just have to set @code{to-list} and/or @code{to-address} in group
parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
@code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
-from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
-@var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
+from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @code{to-list} or
+@code{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
-splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
+splitting to recognize them all: just set the @code{extra-aliases} group
parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
-rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
+rather use a regular expression, set @code{split-regexp}.
All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
@code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
-@var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
-matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
+@code{to-list}, @code{to-address}, all of @code{extra-aliases} and all
+matches of @code{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
-@var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
+@code{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
-parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
+parameter @code{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
-@code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
+@code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @code{split-spec} may be set to
@code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
@code{gnus-group-split}.
by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
-some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
+some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
splits like this:
@lisp
-(: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
+(: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
@end lisp
@var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
@var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
-single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
-fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
-If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
+single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
+fancy split, used like @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
+If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @code{split-regexp} matches the
empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
-Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
+Otherwise, if some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
@findex gnus-group-split-setup
@code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
@code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
-you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
+you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
@lisp
-(gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
+(gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
@end lisp
If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
Go to the group buffer.
@item
-Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
+Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
@code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
@item
-Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
+Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
@item
-Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
+Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
(@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
@item
-Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
+Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
@samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
@end enumerate
course.
To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
-articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
-disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
+articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
+that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
+will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
+You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
+two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
+with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
+for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
+considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
+the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
+@samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
+expirable.
+
+When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
+who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
+and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
+(@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
+into its own group.)
+
+Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
+answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
+advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
+the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
+between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
+only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
+total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
+Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
+scoring.
+
@vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
-You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
-match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
-have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
-articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
-column in the summary buffer.
+Groups that match the regular expression
+@code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
+read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
+expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
automatically, you can put something like the following in your
-@file{.gnus} file:
+@file{~/.gnus.el} file:
@vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
@lisp
string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
-from as its parameter) which should return a target -- either a group
+from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
name or @code{delete}.
Here's an example for specifying a group name:
(setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
'((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
- ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
+ ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
@end lisp
With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
-get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
+get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
-to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
+to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
@code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
@vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
-storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
+storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
various functions that can be put in these hooks.
@table @code
Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
+(Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
+messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
+of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
+rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
+into a feature by documenting it.)
+
@item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
@findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
@lisp
(setq nnmail-split-fancy
- '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
- ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
- ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
- (any mail "mail.misc")
- ;; Other rules.
- [ ... ] ))
+ '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
+ ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
+ ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
+ (any mail "mail.misc")
+ ;; @r{Other rules.}
+ [...] ))
@end lisp
-
+@noindent
Or something like:
@lisp
(setq nnmail-split-methods
'(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
- ;; Other rules.
+ ;; @r{Other rules.}
[...]))
@end lisp
@vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
@vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
-happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
+happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old Rmail
file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
-There are five different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
+There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
-(because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
-(@pxref{Mail Spool}).
+(because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
+Spool}).
@menu
* Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
-* Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
+* Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
* Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
* MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
+* Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
* Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
* Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
@end menu
@node Rmail Babyl
@subsubsection Rmail Babyl
@cindex nnbabyl
-@cindex rmail mbox
+@cindex Rmail mbox
@vindex nnbabyl-active-file
@vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
-The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
+The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{Rmail
mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
mail article to say which group it belongs in.
@table @code
@item nnbabyl-mbox-file
@vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
-The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
+The name of the Rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
@item nnbabyl-active-file
@vindex nnbabyl-active-file
@node Mail Spool
@subsubsection Mail Spool
@cindex nnml
-@cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
+@cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
format. It should be used with some caution.
@code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
-@sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
-back end when it comes to reading mail.
+@acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
+fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
@cindex self contained nnml servers
+@cindex marks
When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
directory).
+If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
+up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
+them next time it starts.
+
Virtual server settings:
@table @code
@item nnml-directory
@vindex nnml-directory
-All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
-The default is the value of `message-directory' (whose default value is
-@file{~/Mail}).
+All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
+default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
+is @file{~/Mail}).
@item nnml-active-file
@vindex nnml-active-file
The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
-@file{~/Mail/active"}.
+@file{~/Mail/active}.
@item nnml-newsgroups-file
@vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
-Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}.
+Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
@item nnml-get-new-mail
@vindex nnml-get-new-mail
@item nnml-nov-is-evil
@vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
-If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
+If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
default is @code{nil}.
@item nnml-nov-file-name
@vindex nnml-nov-file-name
-The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
+The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
@item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
@vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
@item nnml-marks-file-name
@vindex nnml-marks-file-name
-The name of the @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
+The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
+
+@item nnml-use-compressed-files
+@vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
+If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
+files.
@end table
@findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
-If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
-you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
+If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of
+whack, you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
@cindex mh-e mail spool
@code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
-@sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
-This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
-but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
+@acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks
+file. This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than
+@code{nnml}, but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts
+for.
Virtual server settings:
@item nnmh-be-safe
@vindex nnmh-be-safe
If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
-sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
-are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
+sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks
+they are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
-use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
-to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
+use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not
+have to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
+@end table
+
+
+@node Maildir
+@subsubsection Maildir
+@cindex nnmaildir
+@cindex maildir
+
+@code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
+corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
+@uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
+@uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. @code{nnmaildir}
+also stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory
+within a maildir.
+
+Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
+reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
+your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
+configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
+can still do that with @code{nnmaildir}, but the more common
+configuration is to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs
+that appear as group in Gnus.
+
+@code{nnmaildir} is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will
+never corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never
+corrupt its data in the filesystem.
+
+@code{nnmaildir} stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each
+maildir. So you can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to
+another, and you will keep your marks.
+
+Virtual server settings:
+
+@table @code
+@item directory
+For each of your @code{nnmaildir} servers (it's very unlikely that
+you'd need more than one), you need to create a directory and populate
+it with maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not
+choose a directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir
+will be represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the
+filename of the symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames
+in the directory starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is
+scanned when you first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in
+the group buffer; if any maildirs have been removed or added,
+@code{nnmaildir} notices at these times.
+
+The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
+which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
+the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
+only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
+server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
+don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
+optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
+@code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
+use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
+if @code{nnmaildir} uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical
+value.
+
+@item target-prefix
+This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
+@code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
+server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
+closed.
+
+When you create a group on an @code{nnmaildir} server, the maildir is
+created with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
+pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
+So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
+@code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
+the group @code{foo}, @code{nnmaildir} will create
+@file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
+@file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
+@file{../maildirs/foo}.
+
+You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
+create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
+this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
+with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
+symlinks pointing to them will be).
+
+As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
+then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
+@code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
+cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
+@code{force} argument.
+
+@item directory-files
+This should be a function with the same interface as
+@code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
+used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
+parameter is optional; the default is
+@code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
+@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
+@code{directory-files} otherwise.
+(@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
+server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
+scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
+
+@item get-new-mail
+If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
+maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
+the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
+@code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
+value is @code{nil}.
+
+Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
+an @code{nnmaildir} group. The results might happen to be useful, but
+that would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be
+different in the future. If your split rules create new groups,
+remember to supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
+@end table
+
+@subsubsection Group parameters
+
+@code{nnmaildir} uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore
+all this; the default behavior for @code{nnmaildir} is the same as the
+default behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after
+one week, etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this
+functionality is unique to @code{nnmaildir}, so you can ignore it if
+you're just trying to duplicate the behavior you already have with
+another back end.
+
+If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
+is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
+original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
+evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
+different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
+back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
+numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
+@code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
+quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
+
+@table @code
+@item expire-age
+An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article
+before it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
+articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
+@code{nnmaildir} falls back to the usual
+@code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (overrideable by
+the @code{expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) group parameters. If you
+wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
+60 60)]}; @code{nnmaildir} will evaluate the form and use the result.
+An article's age is measured starting from the article file's
+modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
+delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
+article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
+
+@item expire-group
+If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
+@example
+"backend+server.address.string:group.name"
+@end example
+and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
+to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
+before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an @code{nnmaildir}
+group, the article will be just as old in the destination group as it
+was in the source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
+destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
+the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
+you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
+article. So that form can refer to
+@code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
+article. @emph{If this parameter is not set, @code{nnmaildir} does
+not fall back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
+@code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
+
+@item read-only
+If this is set to @code{t}, @code{nnmaildir} will treat the articles
+in this maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed
+from @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in
+@file{new/}, not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles
+cannot be edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the
+@file{new/} directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox
+containing a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the
+maildir outside @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for
+a shared mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or
+have write permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't
+contain extra copies of the articles.
+
+@item directory-files
+A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
+used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
+group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
+server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
+
+@item distrust-Lines:
+If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmaildir} will always count the lines of an
+article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
+@code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
+
+@item always-marks
+A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever
+Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
+say that all articles have these marks, regardless of whether the
+marks stored in the filesystem say so. This is a proof-of-concept
+feature that will probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done
+in Gnus proper, or abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
+
+@item never-marks
+A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
+Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
+say that no articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks
+stored in the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
+@code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
+probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
+abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
+
+@item nov-cache-size
+An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To
+speed things up, @code{nnmaildir} keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory
+for a limited number of articles in each group. (This is probably not
+worthwhile, and will probably be removed in the future.) This
+parameter's value is noticed only the first time a group is seen after
+the server is opened---i.e., when you first start Gnus, typically.
+The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized until the server is closed
+and reopened. The default is an estimate of the number of articles
+that would be displayed in the summary buffer: a count of articles
+that are either marked with @code{tick} or not marked with
+@code{read}, plus a little extra.
@end table
+@subsubsection Article identification
+Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
+Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
+contains no colons. @code{nnmaildir} ignores, but preserves, the
+@code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
+the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
+identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
+@file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
+about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
+available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
+request the article in the summary buffer.
+
+@subsubsection NOV data
+An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used
+to generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
+@code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
+@code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
+need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically
+when the article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can
+force @code{nnmaildir} to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a
+single article simply by deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV}
+file, but @emph{beware}: this will also cause @code{nnmaildir} to
+assign a new article number for this article, which may cause trouble
+with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
+
+@subsubsection Article marks
+An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
+@code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
+When Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for a group's marks, @code{nnmaildir}
+looks for such files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus
+asks @code{nnmaildir} to store a new set of marks, @code{nnmaildir}
+creates and deletes the corresponding files as needed. (Actually,
+rather than create a new file for each mark, it just creates hard
+links to @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
+
+You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
+@file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
+your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
+remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
+this while Gnus is running and your @code{nnmaildir} server is open,
+it's best to exit all summary buffers for @code{nnmaildir} groups and
+type @kbd{s} in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or
+@kbd{M-g} in the group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not
+pick up the changes, and might undo them.
+
@node Mail Folders
@subsubsection Mail Folders
@cindex mbox folders
@cindex mail folders
-@code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
-file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
-will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
-dates.
+@code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a
+separate file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format.
+@code{nnfolder} will add extra headers to keep track of article
+numbers and arrival dates.
@cindex self contained nnfolder servers
+@cindex marks
When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
-@code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
-Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
-@kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
-@code{nnfolder} directory).
+@code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder}
+directory. Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to
+backup, use @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup
+into the @code{nnfolder} directory).
Virtual server settings:
@table @code
@item nnfolder-directory
@vindex nnfolder-directory
-All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
-The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
-@file{~/Mail})
+All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this
+directory. The default is the value of @code{message-directory}
+(whose default is @file{~/Mail})
@item nnfolder-active-file
@vindex nnfolder-active-file
@item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
@vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
-Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}
+Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
@item nnfolder-get-new-mail
@vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
-If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
-is @code{t}
+If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The
+default is @code{t}
@item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
@vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
@cindex backup files
Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
-backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
-wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
-your @file{.emacs} file:
+backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If
+you wish to switch this off, you could say something like the
+following in your @file{.emacs} file:
@lisp
(defun turn-off-backup ()
@item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
@vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
-If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
+If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
default is @code{nil}.
@item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
@vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
-The extension for @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
+The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
@item nnfolder-nov-directory
@vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
-The directory where the @sc{nov} files should be stored. If nil,
-@code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
+The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
+@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
@item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
@vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
@item nnfolder-marks-directory
@vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
-The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If nil,
-@code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
+The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If
+@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
@end table
mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
-typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
+typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
-articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
+articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
@code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
-RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
-and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
+Rmail was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
+and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
-headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
+headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
-filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
+file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
look at your mail.
@item nnml
CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
@dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
-@sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
+@acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
provided by the active file and overviews.
@code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
-resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
+resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
-tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
-the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
+tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
+the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
wins big.
It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
-individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
+individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
-itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
+itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
friendly mail back end all over.
+@item nnmaildir
+
+For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
+incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
+mail back ends.
+
+@code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
+differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
+filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
+also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
+per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
+@code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
+you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to
+@uref{http://www.namesys.com/, ReiserFS} or another non-block-structured
+file system.
+
+Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
+as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
+This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
+organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
+entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
+require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
+thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
+whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
+@code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
+@code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
+undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
+
+@code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
+corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
+them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
+else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
+it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
+@code{nnmaildir}.
+
+@code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
+(It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
+and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
+is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
+parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
+would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
+removed in the future.
+
+Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
+back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
+on your file system.
+
+@code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
+to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
+
@end table
interfaces to these sources.
@menu
+* Archiving Mail::
* Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
* Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
* Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
-work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
+work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
though, you should be ok.
@cindex archiving mail
@cindex backup of mail
-Some of the back ends, notably nnml and nnfolder, now actually store
-the article marks with each group. For these servers, archiving and
-restoring a group while preserving marks is fairly simple.
+Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
+@code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
+For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
+marks is fairly simple.
(Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
-requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @code{.newsrc.eld} deity
+requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
though.)
-To archive an entire @code{nnml} or @code{nnfolder} server, take a
-recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need to shut down
-Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or similar. You
-restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and adding a server
-definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The @ref{Article
-Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things might interfer
-with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus before you
-restore the data.
-
-It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml} or
-@code{nnfolder} groups, while preserving marks. For @code{nnml}, you
-copy all files in the group's directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need
-to copy both the base folder file itself (@code{FOO}, say), and the
-marks file (@code{FOO.mrk} in this example). Restoring the group is
-done with @kbd{G m} from the Group buffer. The last step makes Gnus
-notice the new directory.
+To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
+server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
+to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
+similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
+adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
+@ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
+might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
+before you restore the data.
+
+It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
+@code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
+For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
+directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
+file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
+this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
+buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
+@code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
+is unnecessary in that case.
@node Web Searches
@subsection Web Searches
@cindex nnweb
-@cindex DejaNews
-@cindex Alta Vista
-@cindex InReference
+@cindex Google
+@cindex dejanews
+@cindex gmane
@cindex Usenet searches
@cindex searching the Usenet
manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
@code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
-engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
+engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
group as read.
@item nnweb-type
@vindex nnweb-type
What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
-are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
-@code{reference}.
+are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
+@code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
@item nnweb-search
@vindex nnweb-search
@item nnweb-max-hits
@vindex nnweb-max-hits
Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
-100.
+999.
@item nnweb-type-definition
@vindex nnweb-type-definition
@cindex Slashdot
@cindex nnslashdot
-Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
+@uref{http://slashdot.org/, Slashdot} is a popular news site, with
lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
-following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
+following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
@lisp
(setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
-comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
+comments), some light @acronym{HTML}izations will be performed. In
particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
-@code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
-the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
+@samp{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @samp{br} added to
+the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @acronym{HTML}
directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
-@sc{html} forms.
+@acronym{HTML} forms.
The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
-but much, much slower than untreaded.
+but much, much slower than unthreaded.
@item nnslashdot-login-name
@vindex nnslashdot-login-name
@item nnslashdot-directory
@vindex nnslashdot-directory
Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
-@samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
+@file{~/News/slashdot/}.
@item nnslashdot-active-url
@vindex nnslashdot-active-url
-The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
-news articles and comments. The default is
+The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the
+information on news articles and comments. The default is@*
@samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
@item nnslashdot-comments-url
@vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
-The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
-default is
-@samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
+The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch comments.
@item nnslashdot-article-url
@vindex nnslashdot-article-url
-The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
-default is
+The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the news
+article. The default is
@samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
@item nnslashdot-threshold
@cindex nnultimate
@cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
-The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
+@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/, The Ultimate Bulletin Board} is
probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
-http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
+http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @acronym{URL}
(not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
@table @code
@item nnultimate-directory
@vindex nnultimate-directory
-The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
-@samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
+The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is@*
+@file{~/News/ultimate/}.
@end table
interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
groups updated.
+@findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
-gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
-www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
-@sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
-@sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
+gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET @var{an_egroup} RET egroups RET
+www.egroups.com RET @var{your@@email.address} RET}. (Substitute the
+@var{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
+@var{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
@table @code
@item nnwarchive-directory
@vindex nnwarchive-directory
-The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
-@samp{~/News/warchive/}.
+The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is@*
+@file{~/News/warchive/}.
@item nnwarchive-login
@vindex nnwarchive-login
@cindex nnrss
@cindex RSS
-Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
-@uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
-interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
-groups updated.
+Some web sites have an RDF Site Summary (@acronym{RSS}).
+@acronym{RSS} is a format for summarizing headlines from news related
+sites (such as BBC or CNN). But basically anything list-like can be
+presented as an @acronym{RSS} feed: weblogs, changelogs or recent
+changes to a wiki (e.g. @url{http://cliki.net/recent-changes.rdf}).
+
+@acronym{RSS} has a quite regular and nice interface, and it's
+possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
+
+@kindex G R (Summary)
+Use @kbd{G R} from the summary buffer to subscribe to a feed---you
+will be prompted for the location of the feed.
-The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
-like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
-subscribe groups.
+An easy way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something like
+the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET y}, then
+subscribe to groups.
The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
@item nnrss-directory
@vindex nnrss-directory
The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
-@samp{~/News/rss/}.
-
+@file{~/News/rss/}.
+
+@item nnrss-use-local
+@vindex nnrss-use-local
+@findex nnrss-generate-download-script
+If you set @code{nnrss-use-local} to @code{t}, @code{nnrss} will read
+the feeds from local files in @code{nnrss-directory}. You can use
+the command @code{nnrss-generate-download-script} to generate a
+download script using @command{wget}.
@end table
The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
(defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
(let ((descr
- (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
+ (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
(if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
@end lisp
(assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
(if url
- (browse-url (cdr url))
+ (progn
+ (browse-url (cdr url))
+ (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
(gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
(eval-after-load "gnus"
@end lisp
Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
-@sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
+@acronym{HTML} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
follow the link.
+
@node IMAP
-@section @sc{imap}
+@section IMAP
@cindex nnimap
-@cindex @sc{imap}
+@cindex @acronym{IMAP}
-@sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
-think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
+@acronym{IMAP} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
+think of it as a modernized @acronym{NNTP}. Connecting to a @acronym{IMAP}
server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
specify the network address of the server.
-@sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
-POP can, it can hence be viewed as POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
-mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
-protocol. (@sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp} because news
-is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.)
-
-If you want to use @sc{imap} as POP++, use an imap entry in
-mail-sources. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the @sc{imap}
-server and store them on the local disk. This is not the usage
-described in this section. @xref{Mail Sources}.
-
-If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
-entry in gnus-secondary-select-methods. With this, Gnus will
-manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
+@acronym{IMAP} has two properties. First, @acronym{IMAP} can do
+everything that @acronym{POP} can, it can hence be viewed as a
+@acronym{POP++}. Secondly, @acronym{IMAP} is a mail storage protocol,
+similar to @acronym{NNTP} being a news storage protocol---however,
+@acronym{IMAP} offers more features than @acronym{NNTP} because news
+is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
+
+If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a @acronym{POP++}, use an imap
+entry in @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from
+the @acronym{IMAP} server and store them on the local disk. This is
+not the usage described in this section---@xref{Mail Sources}.
+
+If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
+entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
+manipulate mails stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server. This is the kind of
usage explained in this section.
-A server configuration in @code{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
-might look something like this:
+A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus.el} with a few @acronym{IMAP}
+servers might look something like the following. (Note that for
+@acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you need external programs and libraries,
+see below.)
@lisp
(setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
- '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
- ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
+ '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; @r{no special configuration}
+ ; @r{perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:}
(nnimap "dolk"
(nnimap-address "localhost")
(nnimap-server-port 1430))
- ; a UW server running on localhost
+ ; @r{a UW server running on localhost}
(nnimap "barbar"
(nnimap-server-port 143)
(nnimap-address "localhost")
(nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
- ; anonymous public cyrus server:
+ ; @r{anonymous public cyrus server:}
(nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
(nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
(nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
(nnimap-stream network))
- ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
+ ; @r{a ssl server on a non-standard port:}
(nnimap "vic20"
(nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
(nnimap-server-port 9930)
(nnimap-stream ssl))))
@end lisp
-(Note that for SSL/TLS to work, you need the external library
-@samp{ssl.el}, see below.)
+After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
+server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
+(@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
+(@pxref{Server Buffer}).
The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
server:
@item nnimap-address
@vindex nnimap-address
-The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
+The address of the remote @acronym{IMAP} server. Defaults to the virtual
server name if not specified.
@item nnimap-server-port
@vindex nnimap-server-port
-Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
+Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}.
Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
@vindex nnimap-list-pattern
String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
-interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
-@sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
+interested in a few---some servers export your home directory via
+@acronym{IMAP}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
@file{~/Mail/*} then.
The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
@vindex nnimap-stream
The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
-of SSL/TLS. (IMAP over SSL/TLS is being replaced by STARTTLS, which
-can be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
+of @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}. (@acronym{IMAP} over
+@acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can
+be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
Example server specification:
@itemize @bullet
@item
-@dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5). Requires the
-@samp{imtest} program.
+@dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
+@samp{gsasl} or @samp{imtest} program.
@item
-@dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
+@dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
@item
@dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
-SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
+@acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
@samp{starttls}.
@item
-@dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the program
-@samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
-library @samp{ssl.el}.
+@dfn{tls:} Connect through @acronym{TLS}. Requires GNUTLS (the program
+@samp{gnutls-cli}).
+@item
+@dfn{ssl:} Connect through @acronym{SSL}. Requires OpenSSL (the program
+@samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
@item
-@dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
+@dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @acronym{IMAP} connection.
@item
@dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
@end itemize
1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
-restrictions on IMAP commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
+restrictions on @acronym{IMAP} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
@code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
program.
+For @acronym{TLS} connection, the @code{gnutls-cli} program from GNUTLS is
+needed. It is available from
+@uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}.
+
+@vindex imap-gssapi-program
+This parameter specifies a list of command lines that invoke a GSSAPI
+authenticated @acronym{IMAP} stream in a subshell. They are tried
+sequentially until a connection is made, or the list has been
+exhausted. By default, @samp{gsasl} from GNU SASL, available from
+@uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gsasl/}, and the @samp{imtest}
+program from Cyrus IMAPD (see @code{imap-kerberos4-program}), are
+tried.
+
@vindex imap-ssl-program
-For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
-@uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
-and nnimap support it too - altough the most recent versions of
+For @acronym{SSL} connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
+@uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
+and nnimap support it too---although the most recent versions of
SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
-useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
-work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
-to OpenSSL/SSLeay. You also need @samp{ssl.el} (from the W3
-distribution, for instance).
+useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
+work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
+to OpenSSL/SSLeay.
@vindex imap-shell-program
@vindex imap-shell-host
-For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
+For @acronym{IMAP} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
@code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
@item nnimap-authenticator
@itemize @bullet
@item
-@dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Require
-external program @code{imtest}.
+@dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
+external program @code{gsasl} or @code{imtest}.
@item
-@dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication. Require external program
+@dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
@code{imtest}.
@item
-@dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Require
+@dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
@item
@dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
@item
@dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
@item
-@dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
+@dfn{anonymous:} Login as ``anonymous'', supplying your email address as password.
@end itemize
@item nnimap-expunge-on-close
-@cindex Expunging
+@cindex expunging
@vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
-Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
-doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
+Unlike Parmenides the @acronym{IMAP} designers have decided things that
+don't exist actually do exist. More specifically, @acronym{IMAP} has
this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
-nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or
+nnimap does when you delete an article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
similar).
Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
@table @code
@item always
-The default behavior, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
+The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
closing a mailbox.
@item never
Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
-the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
+the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @acronym{IMAP} clients
may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
@item ask
@item nnimap-importantize-dormant
@vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
-If non-nil, marks dormant articles as ticked (as well), for other IMAP
-clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will naturally still (only) be
-marked as ticked. This is to make dormant articles stand out, just
-like ticked articles, in other IMAP clients. (In other words, Gnus has
-two ``Tick'' marks and IMAP has only one.)
+If non-@code{nil} (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as
+well), for other @acronym{IMAP} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
+naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
+articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @acronym{IMAP}
+clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @acronym{IMAP}
+has only one.)
Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
-enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
+enable per-user persistent dormant flags, using something like:
@lisp
(setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
as ticked for other users.
@item nnimap-expunge-search-string
-@cindex Expunging
+@cindex expunging
@vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
-This variable contain the IMAP search command sent to server when
+This variable contain the @acronym{IMAP} search command sent to server when
searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
@code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
Probably the only useful value to change this to is
@code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
-messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
+messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
@item nnimap-authinfo-file
variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
@ref{NNTP}.
+@item nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
+@vindex nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
+
+Unselect mailboxes before looking for new mail in them. Some servers
+seem to need this under some circumstances; it was reported that
+Courier 1.7.1 did.
+
@end table
@menu
* Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
+* Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
* Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
-* Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
+* Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
+* A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
+* Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
@end menu
@node Splitting in IMAP
-@subsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
+@subsection Splitting in IMAP
@cindex splitting imap mail
-Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
+Splitting is something Gnus users have loved and used for years, and now
the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
-@sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
-seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
-support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
+@acronym{IMAP} servers have server side splitting and those that have
+splitting seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that
+@acronym{IMAP} support for Gnus has to do its own splitting.
And it does.
+(Incidentally, people seem to have been dreaming on, and Sieve has
+gaining a market share and is supported by several IMAP servers.
+Fortunately, Gnus support it too, @xref{Sieve Commands}.)
+
Here are the variables of interest:
@table @code
@cindex crosspost
@vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
-If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
-nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
+If non-@code{nil}, do crossposting if several split methods match the
+mail. If @code{nil}, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule}
+found will be used.
Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
@cindex inbox
@vindex nnimap-split-inbox
-A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
-mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
-disabled!
+A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @acronym{IMAP}
+mailboxes to split from. Defaults to @code{nil}, which means that
+splitting is disabled!
@lisp
(setq nnimap-split-inbox
No nnmail equivalent.
@item nnimap-split-rule
-@cindex Splitting, rules
+@cindex splitting, rules
@vindex nnimap-split-rule
New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
this variable.
This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
-sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
+sublist gives the name of the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox to move articles
matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
Neither did I, we need examples.
INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
-The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
+The first string may contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by
replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
instance:
("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
@end lisp
+The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
+matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
+
The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
-containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
-if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
+containing the headers of the article. It should return a
+non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
them every time you fetch new mail.)
These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
-end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
-crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
+end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
+crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
@lisp
(setq nnimap-split-rule
- '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
- ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
+ '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
+ ("junk" "From:.*Simon"))))
("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
- ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
- ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
+ ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
+ ("junk" my-junk-func))))))
@end lisp
The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
-This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
+This might be useful if you use another @acronym{IMAP} client to read mail in
your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
-regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
+regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
@samp{UNDELETED}.
@item nnimap-split-fancy
It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
@code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
-splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
+splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
+@item nnimap-split-download-body
+@findex nnimap-split-download-body
+@vindex nnimap-split-download-body
+
+Set to non-@code{nil} to download entire articles during splitting.
+This is generally not required, and will slow things down
+considerably. You may need it if you want to use an advanced
+splitting function that analyses the body to split the article.
+
@end table
-@node Editing IMAP ACLs
-@subsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
-@cindex editing imap acls
+@node Expiring in IMAP
+@subsection Expiring in IMAP
+@cindex expiring imap mail
+
+Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
+end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
+Mail}). Unlike splitting in @acronym{IMAP} (@pxref{Splitting in
+IMAP}) it does not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
+@var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
+follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
+process.
+
+A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server is
+appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
+@code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
+message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
+the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
+you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
+your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
+messages. Most do, fortunately.
+
+@table @code
+
+@item nnmail-expiry-wait
+@item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
+
+These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
+number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
+
+@item nnmail-expiry-target
+
+This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
+@code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
+that if the destination is a @acronym{IMAP} group on the same server, the
+article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
+
+@end table
+
+@node Editing IMAP ACLs
+@subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
+@cindex editing imap acls
@cindex Access Control Lists
-@cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
-@kindex G l
+@cindex Editing @acronym{IMAP} ACLs
+@kindex G l (Group)
@findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
-ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
+ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @acronym{IMAP} for
limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
-@sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
+@acronym{IMAP} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
doesn't.
-To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
-(@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
+To edit an ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
+(@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with an ACL
editing window with detailed instructions.
Some possible uses:
@itemize @bullet
@item
-Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
+Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
follow the list without subscribing to it.
@item
At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
-"anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
-mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
+``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
+mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox
INBOX.mailbox).
@end itemize
@subsection Expunging mailboxes
@cindex expunging
-@cindex Expunge
-@cindex Manual expunging
-@kindex G x
+@cindex expunge
+@cindex manual expunging
+@kindex G x (Group)
@findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
delete them.
+@node A note on namespaces
+@subsection A note on namespaces
+@cindex IMAP namespace
+@cindex namespaces
+
+The @acronym{IMAP} protocol has a concept called namespaces, described
+by the following text in the RFC:
+
+@display
+5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
+
+ By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
+ which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
+ the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
+ types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
+
+ For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
+ newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
+ newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
+ comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
+ "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
+ to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
+@end display
+
+While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the
+@acronym{IMAP} implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace
+prefixes in a way that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
+
+Specifically, University of Washington's @acronym{IMAP} server uses
+mailbox names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only
+in the @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is
+created (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed
+without the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do
+not make it possible for the user to guarantee that user entered
+mailbox names will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands,
+you should simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in
+Gnus.
+
+See the UoW IMAPD documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
+for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
+tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
+
+@node Debugging IMAP
+@subsection Debugging IMAP
+@cindex IMAP debugging
+@cindex protocol dump (IMAP)
+
+@acronym{IMAP} is a complex protocol, more so than @acronym{NNTP} or
+@acronym{POP3}. Implementation bugs are not unlikely, and we do our
+best to fix them right away. If you encounter odd behaviour, chances
+are that either the server or Gnus is buggy.
+
+If you are familiar with network protocols in general, you will
+probably be able to extract some clues from the protocol dump of the
+exchanges between Gnus and the server. Even if you are not familiar
+with network protocols, when you include the protocol dump in
+@acronym{IMAP}-related bug reports you are helping us with data
+critical to solving the problem. Therefore, we strongly encourage you
+to include the protocol dump when reporting IMAP bugs in Gnus.
+
+
+@vindex imap-log
+Because the protocol dump, when enabled, generates lots of data, it is
+disabled by default. You can enable it by setting @code{imap-log} as
+follows:
+
+@lisp
+(setq imap-log t)
+@end lisp
+This instructs the @code{imap.el} package to log any exchanges with
+the server. The log is stored in the buffer @samp{*imap-log*}. Look
+for error messages, which sometimes are tagged with the keyword
+@code{BAD} - but when submitting a bug, make sure to include all the
+data.
@node Other Sources
@section Other Sources
@code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
-@code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
+@code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
@code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
@table @code
-@cindex babyl
-@cindex rmail mbox
+@cindex Babyl
+@cindex Rmail mbox
@item babyl
-The babyl (rmail) mail box.
+The Babyl (Rmail) mail box.
@cindex mbox
@cindex Unix mbox
Netscape mail boxes.
@item mime-parts
-MIME multipart messages.
+@acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
@item standard-digest
The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
+@item mime-digest
+A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
+
+@item lanl-gov-announce
+Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
+
+@item rfc822-forward
+A message forwarded according to RFC822.
+
+@item outlook
+The Outlook mail box.
+
+@item oe-dbx
+The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
+
+@item exim-bounce
+A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
+
+@item forward
+A message forwarded according to informal rules.
+
+@item rfc934
+An RFC934-forwarded message.
+
+@item mailman
+A mailman digest.
+
+@item clari-briefs
+A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
+
@item slack-digest
Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
+
+@item mail-in-mail
+The last resort.
@end table
You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
@code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
@code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
-@code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail},
-@code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman} or @code{guess}.
+@code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
+@code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
@item nndoc-post-type
@vindex nndoc-post-type
run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
-@code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
-the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
-the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
-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
-is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
-@code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
-of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
-correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
-low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
+@code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
+is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
+where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
+The alist is traversed sequentially, and
+@code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
+So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
+@code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
+@code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
+is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
+correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
+means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
@node SOUP
@node SOUP Groups
-@subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
+@subsubsection SOUP Groups
@cindex nnsoup
@code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
@item nnsoup-replies-directory
@vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
-reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
+reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/}.
@item nnsoup-replies-format-type
@vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
@end example
-will get this @code{From} header inserted:
+will get this @code{To} header inserted:
@example
To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
@item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
@code{nngateway-address}.
+@end table
+
+@end table
Here's an example:
nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
@end lisp
-@end table
-
-
-@end table
-
So, to use this, simply say something like:
@lisp
All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
-article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
-(And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
-the virtual group.)
+article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
+came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
+shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
+@kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
+and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
+(@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
@kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
line from the article you respond to in these cases.
+@code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
+from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
+inherited.
@node Kibozed Groups
@cindex nnkiboze
@cindex kibozing
-@dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
-the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
-you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
-with useless requests! Oh happiness!
+@dfn{Kibozing} is defined by the @acronym{OED} as ``grepping through
+(parts of) the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will
+do this for you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @acronym{NNTP} server
+down to a halt with useless requests! Oh happiness!
@kindex G k (Group)
To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
@code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
-@code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
-and @code{nnvirtual} end.
+@code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between
+@code{nnkiboze} and @code{nnvirtual} end.
-In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
-must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
-the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
+In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an
+@code{nnkiboze} group must have a score file to say what articles are
+to be included in the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
@kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
@findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
-@code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
-time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
-all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
-scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
-that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
+@code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time.
+Lots of time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the
+headers from all the articles in all the component groups and run them
+through the scoring process to determine if there are any articles in
+the groups that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
-@sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
+@acronym{NNTP} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
Stranger things have happened.
@code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
@vindex nnkiboze-directory
The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
-@code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
-contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
-and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
-on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
+@code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/kiboze/} by default.
+One contains the @acronym{NOV} header lines for all the articles in
+the group, and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store
+information on what groups have been searched through to find
+component articles.
Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
-their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
+their @acronym{NOV} lines removed from the @acronym{NOV} file.
@node Gnus Unplugged
@section Gnus Unplugged
@cindex offline
@cindex unplugged
-@cindex Agent
-@cindex Gnus Agent
-@cindex Gnus Unplugged
+@cindex agent
+@cindex Gnus agent
+@cindex Gnus unplugged
In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
reading news on a machine.
-Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
-
-@itemize @bullet
-@item
-First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
-that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
-here.
-
-@item
-Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
-@file{.gnus.el} file:
-
-@lisp
-(gnus-agentize)
-@end lisp
-@end itemize
-
-That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
+Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
+fact, you don't even have to configure anything.
Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
* Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
* Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
* Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
+* Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
+* Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
* Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
-* Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
+* Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
+* Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
* Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
* Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
-* Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
+* Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
* Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
* Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
@end menu
@dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
+You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
+shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
+is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
+say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
+you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
+
+Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
+that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
+can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
+servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
+they're kinda like plugged always).
+
+So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
+connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
+servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
+the culprit.
+
+Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
+reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
+server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
+server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
+will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
+
Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
@itemize @bullet
@item
+@findex gnus-unplugged
You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
already fetched while in this mode.
You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
-as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
+as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
Source Specifiers}).
@item
-You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
-onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
-to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
-s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
-know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
+You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
+news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
+@kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
+all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
+articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
@item
After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
-@kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
-Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
-primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
+@kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
+Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
+added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
+all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} servers in @code{gnus-select-method} and
+@code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
@item
-Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
+Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
+you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
+parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
+is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
+
+Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
+(@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
+to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
+parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
+to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
+your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
+configure them.
@item
-Uhm... that's it.
+Uhm@dots{} that's it.
@end itemize
mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
you're interested in the articles anyway.
-The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
-@dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
-Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
-@code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
-managing categories.
+One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
+downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
+groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
+category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
+buffer for creating and managing categories.
+
+If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
+Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
+alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
+difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
+less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
+sink.
+
+Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
+a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
+the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
+parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
+variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
+of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
+your settings.
@menu
* Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
@node Category Syntax
@subsubsection Category Syntax
-A category consists of two things.
+A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
+category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
+customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
+listed below.
-@enumerate
-@item
+@cindex Agent Parameters
+@table @code
+@item gnus-agent-cat-name
+The name of the category.
+
+@item gnus-agent-cat-groups
+The list of groups that are in this category.
+
+@item gnus-agent-cat-predicate
A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
are eligible for downloading; and
-@item
+@item gnus-agent-cat-score-file
a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
-@end enumerate
+
+@item gnus-agent-cat-enable-expiration
+a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
+this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
+fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
+only groups that should not be expired.
+
+@item gnus-agent-cat-days-until-old
+an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
+before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
+
+@item gnus-agent-cat-low-score
+an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
+
+@item gnus-agent-cat-high-score
+an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
+
+@item gnus-agent-cat-length-when-short
+an integer that overrides the value of
+@code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
+
+@item gnus-agent-cat-length-when-long
+an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
+
+@c @item gnus-agent-cat-disable-undownloaded-faces
+@c a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should @emph{not} display
+@c undownloaded articles using the gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face
+@c faces. The symbol nil will enable the use of undownloaded faces while
+@c all other symbols disable them.
+
+@item gnus-agent-cat-enable-undownloaded-faces
+a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should display
+undownloaded articles using the gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face
+faces. The symbol nil will disable the use of undownloaded faces while
+all other symbols enable them.
+@end table
+
+The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
+created.
+
+Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
+that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
+group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
+category.
A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
@code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
you want to do, you can write your own.
+When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
+bound to the value determined by calling
+@code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
+example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
+@code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
+means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
+predicate to individual groups.
+
@table @code
@item short
True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
or you could append your predicate to the predefined
@code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
-wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
-@code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
+wherever.
@lisp
+(require 'gnus-agent)
(setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
(append gnus-category-predicate-alist
- '((old . my-article-old-p))))
+ '((old . my-article-old-p))))
@end lisp
and simply specify your predicate as:
always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
just don't give a damn.
-The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
+The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
-new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
+new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
parameters like so:
@lisp
(agent-predicate . short)
@end lisp
-This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
+This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
@code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
@item
Score rule
-This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
+This has the same syntax as a normal Gnus score file except only a
subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
example:
@end lisp
@item
-Group Parameter specification
+Group/Topic Parameter specification
@lisp
(agent-score ("from"
@item
Agent score file
-These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
-stated above.
+These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
+keywords stated above.
example:
These directives in either the category definition or a group's
parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
-files for a group, *filtering out* those sections that do not
+files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
@itemize @bullet
@findex gnus-category-exit
Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
+@item e
+@kindex e (Category)
+@findex gnus-category-customize-category
+Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
+parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
+
@item k
@kindex k (Category)
@findex gnus-category-kill
Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
0.
+@item gnus-agent-expire-days
+@vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
+The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
+local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
+the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
+just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
+important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
+article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
+read.
+Default 7.
+
+@item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
+@vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
+Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
+retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
+you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
+you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
+have to enable expiration in selected groups.
+
@end table
@node Agent Commands
@subsection Agent Commands
+@findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
+@kindex J j (Agent)
All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
(@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
@menu
-* Group Agent Commands::
-* Summary Agent Commands::
-* Server Agent Commands::
+* Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
+* Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
+* Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
@end menu
-You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
-following incantation:
-
-@cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
-@example
-$ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
-@end example
Remove the downloading mark from the article
(@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
+@cindex %
@item @@
@kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
@findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
-Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
+Toggle whether to download the article
+(@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
+default.
@item J c
@kindex J c (Agent Summary)
@findex gnus-agent-catchup
-Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
+Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
+
+@item J S
+@kindex J S (Agent Summary)
+@findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
+Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
+(@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
+
+@item J s
+@kindex J s (Agent Summary)
+@findex gnus-agent-fetch-series
+Download all processable articles in this group.
+(@code{gnus-agent-fetch-series}).
@item J u
@kindex J u (Agent Summary)
@end table
+@node Agent Visuals
+@subsection Agent Visuals
+
+If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
+active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
+stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
+something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
+placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
+there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
+When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
+placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
+You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
+placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
+
+While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
+available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
+fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
+way, "If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
+less than satisfying unplugged session". For this reason, the Agent
+adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
+the download status of each article so that you always know which
+articles will be available when unplugged.
+
+The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
+@code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
+a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
+Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
+will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
+other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
+@samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
+(@samp{ }) will be displayed.
+
+The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
+are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
+result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
+that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
+face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
+tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
+conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
+that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
+to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
+
+If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
+each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
+undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
+being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
+downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear.
+
+For occasional Agent users, the undownloaded faces may appear to be an
+absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since most of their
+articles have not been fetched into the Agent, most of the normal
+faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces. If this is your
+situation, you have two choices available. First, you can completely
+disable the undownload faces by customizing
+@code{gnus-summary-highlight} to delete the three cons-cells that
+refer to the @code{gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face} faces. Second, if
+you prefer to take a more fine-grained approach, you may set the
+@code{agent-disable-undownloaded-faces} group parameter to t. This
+parameter, like all other agent parameters, may be set on an Agent
+Category (@pxref{Agent Categories}), a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic
+Parameters}), or an individual group (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
+
+@node Agent as Cache
+@subsection Agent as Cache
+
+When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
+articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
+Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
+in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
+buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
+are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
+consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
+article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
+server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
+
+If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
+@pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
+plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
+synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
+sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
+
@node Agent Expiry
@subsection Agent Expiry
@vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
@findex gnus-agent-expire
@kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
-@cindex Agent expiry
-@cindex Gnus Agent expiry
+@kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
+@findex gnus-agent-expire-group
+@cindex agent expiry
+@cindex Gnus agent expiry
@cindex expiry
-@code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
-@code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
-are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
-whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
-particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
-interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
+The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
+least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
+special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
+commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
+@code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
+that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
+efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
+@kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
-@vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
-if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
-expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
-(which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
-unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
+Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
+might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
+synchronized with the group.
+The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
+prevent expiration in selected groups.
+
+@vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
+If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
+expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
+and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
+are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
+be kept indefinitely.
+
+If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
+perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
+commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
+@code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
+
+@node Agent Regeneration
+@subsection Agent Regeneration
+
+@cindex agent regeneration
+@cindex Gnus agent regeneration
+@cindex regeneration
+
+The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
+due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
+@code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
+to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
+internal inconsistencies.
+
+For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
+downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
+know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
+failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
+@code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
+such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
+
+@findex gnus-agent-regenerate
+@kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
+The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
+@code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
+you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
+recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
+
+@findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
+@kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
+The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
+of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
+then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
+are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
+agent as unread.
@node Agent and IMAP
@subsection Agent and IMAP
-The Agent work with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
-since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
-@sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
-make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
+The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
+since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
+@acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
+make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
-are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @code{.newsrc} as is the
+are kept on the @acronym{IMAP} server, rather than in @file{.newsrc} as is the
case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
-Gnus keep track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
-Agent by default. When you plug back in, by default Gnus will check if
-you have any changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these
-with the server. This behavior is customizable with
-@code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
+Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
+Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
+any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
+The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
@vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
-never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, the
-default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so ask if
-you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has any other
-value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
+never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
+the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
+ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
+any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
-If you do not wish to automatically synchronize flags when you
-re-connect, this can be done manually with the
+If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
+re-connect, you can do it manually with the
@code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
-in the group buffer by default.
+in the group buffer.
Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
-expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
+expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
@itemize @bullet
@end itemize
-Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by "pushing"
+Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
-the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
+the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group and
re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
-removed from the server when you "synchronize". The queued flag
+removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
@subsection Outgoing Messages
When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
-stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
-after posting, and edit them at will.
+stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view
+them there after posting, and edit them at will.
When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
@vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
+@item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
+@vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
+Hook run when finished fetching articles.
+
+@item gnus-agent-cache
+@vindex gnus-agent-cache
+Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
+articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
+The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
+
+@item gnus-agent-go-online
+@vindex gnus-agent-go-online
+If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
+automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
+@code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
+offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
+other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
+online status.
+
+@item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
+@vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
+If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
+mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
+thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
+read. The default is t.
+
+@item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
+@vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
+If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
+agent will let the agent predicate decide whether articles need to be
+downloaded or not, for all articles. When @code{nil}, the default,
+the agent will only let the predicate decide whether unread articles
+are downloaded or not. If you enable this, you may also want to look
+into the agent expiry settings (@pxref{Category Variables}), so that
+the agent doesn't download articles which the agent will later expire,
+over and over again.
+
+@item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
+@vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
+The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
+them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
+the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
+have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
+limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
+performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
+connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
+@code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
+However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
+available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
+see any cycling.
+
+@item gnus-server-unopen-status
+@vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
+Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
+variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
+Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
+whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
+Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
+for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
+is only valid if the Agent is used.
+
+@item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
+@vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
+Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
+that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
+buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
+agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
+
+The legal values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
+@code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
+have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
+ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
+(maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
+
+@item gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
+@vindex gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
+If you have never used the Agent before (or more technically, if
+@file{~/News/agent/lib/servers} does not exist), Gnus will
+automatically agentize a few servers for you. This variable control
+which backends should be auto-agentized. It is typically only useful
+to agentize remote backends. The auto-agentizing has the same effect
+as running @kbd{J a} on the servers (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}).
+If the file exist, you must manage the servers manually by adding or
+removing them, this variable is only applicable the first time you
+start Gnus. The default is @samp{(nntp nnimap)}.
+
@end table
If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
-@file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
+@file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
@lisp
-;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
-;;; from your ISP's server.
+;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
+;;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
(setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
-;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
-;;; your ISP's POP server.
+;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
+;;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
(setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
-;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
+;;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
(setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
-;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
-(gnus-agentize)
+;;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
+;;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
+;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
@end lisp
That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
-@sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
+@acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
once.
@node Batching Agents
@subsection Batching Agents
+@findex gnus-agent-batch
Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
+You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
+following incantation:
+
@example
#!/bin/sh
-emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
+emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f -l ~/.gnus.el gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
@end example
may ask:
@table @dfn
-@item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
-Agent?
+@item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
-@strong{No.}
+@strong{No}. If you want this behaviour, add
+@code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
+@code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
-@item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
-in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
+@item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
+the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
-@strong{Yes.}
+@strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
@end table
In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
-articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
+articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
+locally stored articles.
@node Scoring
@kindex V t (Summary)
@findex gnus-score-find-trace
Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
-(@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
+(@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @code{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
+may type @kbd{e} to edit score file corresponding to the score rule on
+current line and @kbd{f} to format (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) the
+score file and edit it.
+
+@item V w
+@kindex V w (Summary)
+@findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
+List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
@item V R
@kindex V R (Summary)
@item i
Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
+@item e
+Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
+if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
+
@item f
Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
@end table
@item
-The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
-score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
-it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
+The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
+expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
+or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
+file.
@table @kbd
@item t
Immediately scoring.
@end table
+@item
+If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
+the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
+in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
+
@end enumerate
So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
@item gnus-kill-files-directory
@vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
-initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
+initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
This is @file{~/News/} by default.
@item gnus-score-file-suffix
@vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
-(@samp{SCORE} by default.)
+(@file{SCORE} by default.)
@item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
@vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
@cindex score cache
All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
-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
+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
@file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
@file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
@item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
@vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
-If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
-their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
-non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
-stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
-even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
-grim reaper.
+If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
+been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
+controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
+matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
+variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
+have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
@item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
@vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
@item gnus-score-thread-simplify
@vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
-If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
-for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
+If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
+simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
threading---according to the current value of
-gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
+@code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
@code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
simplified in this manner.
(eval (ding)))
@end lisp
-This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
-approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
+This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
+Scoring}, for a different approach.
-Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
-@code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
+Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
+@code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
Six keys are supported by this alist:
entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
to articles that matches these score entries.
-Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
+Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
score entry has one to four elements.
@enumerate
@code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
instead, if you feel like.
+@item Extra
+Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
+gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
+case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
+header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
+@file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin
+host, if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks @samp{NNTP-Posting-Host} in
+overviews:
+
+@lisp
+("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s
+ "NNTP-Posting-Host")
+@end lisp
+
@item Lines, Chars
These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
@code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
@end table
@end enumerate
-@cindex Score File Atoms
+@cindex score file atoms
@item mark
The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
lower than this number will be marked as read.
@item local
@cindex local variables
-The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
-Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
-and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
-strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
-much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
+The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
+@var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
+current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
+convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
+groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
+be evaluated.
@end table
@vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
@code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
-In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
-e} to begin editing score files.
+In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f}, @kbd{V e} and
+@kbd{V t} to begin editing score files.
@node Adaptive Scoring
will be applied to each article.
To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
-articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
+articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
current article, thereby matching the following thread.
-You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
-articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
-@code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
-article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
-added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
-aspirins afterwards.)
-
If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
changes result in articles getting marked as read.
@vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
-is @samp{ADAPT}.
+is @file{ADAPT}.
@vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
-variable defaults til @code{nil}.
+variable defaults to @code{nil}.
@vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
@item
-A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
-the home score file.
+A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
+be used as the home score file.
@item
A string. Use the string as the home score file.
@lisp
(setq gnus-home-score-file
- ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
+ ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
'(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
- ;; All the comp groups in one score file
+ ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
@end lisp
matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
-mail groups, you have greater control. In the @pxref{To From
-Newsgroups} section of the manual, it's explained in greater detail what
-this mechanism does, but here's a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on
-how to allow scoring on the @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
+mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
+it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
+a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
+@samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
-Put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
+Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
@lisp
(setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
old articles for a long time.
@end itemize
-... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
+@dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
holding our breath yet?
encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
interpreting it.
-Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
+Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
@table @kbd
@section GroupLens
@cindex GroupLens
-GroupLens (@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/}) is a
+@sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
+so this section is mostly of historical interest.
+
+@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/, GroupLens} is a
collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
news articles generated every day.
prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
article.
-@sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
-so this section is mostly of historical interest.
-
@menu
* Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
* Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
@node Using GroupLens
@subsection Using GroupLens
-To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
-Bit Bureau (BBB).
-@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
-better bit in town at the moment.
+To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local
+@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html, Better Bit
+Bureau (BBB)} is the only better bit in town at the moment.
Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
-yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
-like this one?"
+yourself is, ``on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
+like this one?''
There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
@vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
-regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
+regular Gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
the separate scoring behavior you need to set
@code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
when he's talking about Gnus:
@example
+@group
((&
("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
("subject" "Gnus"))
1000)
+@end group
@end example
Quite simple, huh?
@lisp
(defun gnus-decay-score (score)
- "Decay SCORE.
-This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
+ "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
- (floor
- (- score
- (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
- (min (abs score)
- (max gnus-score-decay-constant
- (* (abs score)
- gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
+ (let ((n (- score
+ (* (if (< score 0) -1 1)
+ (min (abs score)
+ (max gnus-score-decay-constant
+ (* (abs score)
+ gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
+ (if (and (featurep 'xemacs)
+ ;; XEmacs' floor can handle only the floating point
+ ;; number below the half of the maximum integer.
+ (> (abs n) (lsh -1 -2)))
+ (string-to-number
+ (car (split-string (number-to-string n) "\\.")))
+ (floor n))))
@end lisp
@vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
@include emacs-mime.texi
@chapter Sieve
@include sieve.texi
+@c @chapter PGG
+@c @include pgg.texi
@end iflatex
@end iftex
@chapter Various
@menu
-* Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
-* Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
-* Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
-* Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
-* Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
-* Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
-* Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
-* Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
-* Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
-* Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
-* Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
-* NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
-* Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
-* Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
-* Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
-* Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
-* Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
-* Various Various:: Things that are really various.
+* Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
+* Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
+* Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
+* Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
+* Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
+* Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
+* Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
+* Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
+* Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
+* Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
+* Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
+* NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
+* Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
+* Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
+* Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
+* Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
+* Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
+* Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
+* Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
+* Various Various:: Things that are really various.
@end menu
that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
-expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
+expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
@node Interactive
Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
-examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
+examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
@samp{%&user-date;}.
+
@node Mode Line Formatting
@subsection Mode Line Formatting
@item form
Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
used.
+
+Here's an example:
+
+@lisp
+"~(form (current-time-string))@@"
+@end lisp
+
@end table
Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
last operation, padding.
-If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
-quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
-gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
+@vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
+If @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} is set to @code{nil} (@code{t} by
+default) with your strong personality, and use a lots of these advanced
+thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets quite slow. This can be helped
+enormously by running @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with
+the look of your lines.
@xref{Compilation}.
@code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
@samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
-Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
-@code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
-say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
-@code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
-naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
-when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
-will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
-@code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
+Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
+special @code{balloon-help} property set to
+@code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
+@code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
+variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
+return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
+set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
+refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
+(in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
+XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
+guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
+paragraph.)
Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
@lisp
-;; Create three face types.
+;; @r{Create three face types.}
(setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
(setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
-;; We want the article count to be in
-;; a bold and green face. So we create
-;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
+;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
+;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
+;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
(copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
-;; Set the color.
+;; @r{Set the color.}
(set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
(setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
-;; Set the new & fancy format.
+;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
(setq gnus-group-line-format
"%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
@end lisp
function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
-to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%C} specifier. If you
-put a @samp{%C} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
+to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
+put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
place point there.
can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
about lining up the following text afterwards.
-To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs--@samp{%=}. There are two
+To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
@samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
@node Wide Characters
@subsection Wide Characters
-Proportional fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
+Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
characters---most notable East Asian countries.
The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
-these coutries, that's not true.
+these countries, that's not true.
@vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
@code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
-prettieer. The default value is @code{t}.
-
+prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
+for Emacs.
@node Window Layout
may look like:
@example
+@group
split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
size = number | frame-params
buf-name = group | article | summary ...
+@end group
@end example
The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
(vertical 0.24
(if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
'(summary 0.5))
- (group 1.0)))))
+ (group 1.0))))
@end lisp
One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
@end lisp
You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
-@file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
+@file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
Gnus has been loaded.
@vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
Remember all those line format specification variables?
@code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
-on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
+on. By default, T-gnus will use the byte-compiled codes of these
+variables and we can keep a slow-down to a minimum. However, if you set
+@code{gnus-compile-user-specs} to @code{nil} (@code{t} by default),
unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
(The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
-you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
-@file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
-this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
-them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
+you'll get top speed again. Note that T-gnus will not save these
+compiled specs in the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
+
+@table @code
+@item gnus-compile-user-specs
+@vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
+If it is non-nil, the user-defined format specs will be byte-compiled
+automatically. The default value of this variable is @code{t}. It has
+an effect on the values of @code{gnus-*-line-format-spec}.
+@end table
@node Mode Lines
(gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
@end lisp
-Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
-idle:
+Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
+Emacs is idle:
@lisp
(gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
@end lisp
-This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
+This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
@code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
-your @file{.gnus} file:
+your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
@findex gnus-demon-add-handler
@lisp
@code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
@code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
@code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
-@file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
+@file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
@findex gnus-demon-init
@findex gnus-demon-cancel
@item gnus-nocem-groups
@vindex gnus-nocem-groups
Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
-default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
-"alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
+default is
+@lisp
+("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
+ "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")
+@end lisp
@item gnus-nocem-issuers
@vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
-people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
-"clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
-"hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
+people you want to listen to. The default is
+@lisp
+("Automoose-1" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
+ "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo" "hweede@@snafu.de")
+@end lisp
+fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
-Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
+Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at@*
@uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
@item gnus-nocem-directory
@vindex gnus-nocem-directory
-This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
+This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is@*
@file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
@item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
command.
+@node Predicate Specifiers
+@section Predicate Specifiers
+@cindex predicate specifiers
+
+Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
+form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
+to type all that much.
+
+These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
+
+Here's an example:
+
+@lisp
+(or gnus-article-unseen-p
+ gnus-article-unread-p)
+@end lisp
+
+The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
+functions all take one parameter.
+
+@findex gnus-make-predicate
+Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
+to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
+function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
+specifier.
+
+
@node Moderation
@section Moderation
@cindex moderation
(add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
@end lisp
-in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
+in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
supposed to work:
@node Image Enhancements
@section Image Enhancements
-XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21, is able to display pictures and stuff, so
-Gnus has taken advantage of that.
+XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
+support images yet.}, is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has
+taken advantage of that.
@menu
-* Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
-* Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
-* X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
-* Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
-* XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
+* X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
+* Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
+* Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
+* Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
+* XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
@end menu
-@node Picons
-@subsection Picons
+@node X-Face
+@subsection X-Face
+@cindex x-face
+@code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
+depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
+It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
+readers.
+
+@cindex x-face
+@findex gnus-article-display-x-face
+@vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
+@vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
@iftex
@iflatex
-\include{picons}
+\include{xface}
@end iflatex
@end iftex
+@c @anchor{X-Face}
-So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
-good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
-over your shoulder as you read news.
-
-@menu
-* Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
-* Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
-* Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
-* Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
-* Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
-@end menu
+Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
+@samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
+have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
+Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
+The variable that controls this is the
+@code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
+string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
+function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
+If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
+the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
-@node Picon Basics
-@subsubsection Picon Basics
+The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
+program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
+the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
+like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
+view the face.
-What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
+Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
+action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
+nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
+will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
+support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
+external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
+friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
+like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
-@iftex
-@iflatex
-\margindex{}
-@end iflatex
-@end iftex
+(Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
+@code{xface}).
-@quotation
-@dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
-constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
-organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
-e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
-databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
-in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
-@code{GIF} formats.
-@end quotation
+Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
+easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
+
+@findex gnus-random-x-face
+@vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
+@vindex gnus-x-face-directory
+@code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
+@code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
+converts it to the X-Face format by using the
+@code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
+@samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
+header data as a string.
+
+@findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
+@code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
+@code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
+randomly generated data.
+
+@findex gnus-x-face-from-file
+@vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
+@code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
+converts the file to X-Face format by using the
+@code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
+
+Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
+like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
-@vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
-If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
-Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
-@code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
-@uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
+@lisp
+(setq message-required-news-headers
+ (nconc message-required-news-headers
+ (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
+@end lisp
-@vindex gnus-picons-database
-Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
-obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
-@uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
-picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
-@code{gnus-picons-database}.
+Using the last function would be something like this:
-If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
-picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
+@lisp
+(setq message-required-news-headers
+ (nconc message-required-news-headers
+ (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
+ (gnus-x-face-from-file
+ "~/My-face.gif"))))))
+@end lisp
-@node Picon Requirements
-@subsubsection Picon Requirements
+@node Face
+@subsection Face
+@cindex face
-To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must have @code{x} support
-compiled into XEmacs. To display color picons which are much nicer
-than the black & white one, you also need one of @code{xpm} or
-@code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
+@c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces'implementations should really be harmonized.
-@vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
-If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
-the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
-the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
-@code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
-(NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
+@code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
+ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
+represent the author of the message.
-@node Easy Picons
-@subsubsection Easy Picons
+@cindex face
+@findex gnus-article-display-face
+The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
+See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
+specifications.
-To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
-@file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
+Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
+easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
-@lisp
-(setq gnus-use-picons t)
-(setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
-@end lisp
+@findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
+@code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
+726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
-and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
-containing the Picons databases.
+@findex gnus-face-from-file
+@vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
+@code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
+converts the file to Face format by using the
+@code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
-Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
+Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
+following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
@lisp
-(setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
- "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
+(setq message-required-news-headers
+ (nconc message-required-news-headers
+ (list '(Face . (lambda ()
+ (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
@end lisp
-@node Hard Picons
-@subsubsection Hard Picons
+@node Smileys
+@subsection Smileys
+@cindex smileys
@iftex
@iflatex
-\margindex{}
+\gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
+\input{smiley}
@end iflatex
@end iftex
-Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
-articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
-database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
-author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
-feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
-display them.
+@dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
+currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
-@table @code
+In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
+@file{~/.gnus.el} file:
-@item gnus-picons-database
-@vindex gnus-picons-database
-The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
-containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
-subdirectories. This is only useful if
-@code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
-@file{/usr/local/faces/}.
-
-@item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
-@vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
-The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
-engine is @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
-workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
-this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
-database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
-
-@item gnus-picons-display-where
-@vindex gnus-picons-display-where
-Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
-default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
-valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
-@samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
-buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
-routines---@pxref{Window Layout}.
-
-@item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
-@vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
-Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
-displayed.
+@lisp
+(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
+@end lisp
-@end table
+Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
+the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
+faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
+text and maps that to file names.
-Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
-window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
+@vindex smiley-regexp-alist
+The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
+variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
+the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
+the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
+displayed.
-Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
-functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
-at the right time.
+The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
+files:
-@vindex gnus-picons-display-where
@table @code
-@item gnus-article-display-picons
-@findex gnus-article-display-picons
-Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
-in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
-@item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
-@findex gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
-Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
-(NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the function name, not @code{xface})
+@item smiley-data-directory
+@vindex smiley-data-directory
+Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
+
+@item gnus-smiley-file-types
+@vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
+List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
@end table
-
-@node Picon Useless Configuration
-@subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
+@node Picons
+@subsection Picons
@iftex
@iflatex
-\margindex{}
+\include{picons}
@end iflatex
@end iftex
-The following variables offer further control over how things are
-done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
-don't need to worry about.
-
-@table @code
-
-@item gnus-picons-news-directories
-@vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
-List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
-newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
+So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
+good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
+over your shoulder as you read news.
-@item gnus-picons-user-directories
-@vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
-List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
-faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
-
-@item gnus-picons-domain-directories
-@vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
-List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
-domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
-want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
-
-@item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
-@vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
-If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
-command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
-(@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
-Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
-gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
-(NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
-
-@item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
-@vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
-Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
-to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
-(NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
-
-@item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
-@vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
-If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
-XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
-can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
-remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
-@code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
-
-@item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
-@vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
-If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
-Defaults to @code{nil}.
-
-@item gnus-picons-display-as-address
-@vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
-If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
-Defaults to @code{t}.
-
-@item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
-@vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
-Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
-@code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
-
-@item gnus-picons-setup-hook
-@vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
-Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
-
-@item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
-@vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
-Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
-has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
-
-If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
-@code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the default.
-
-@item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
-@vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
-Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
-picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
-process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
-Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
-@code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
-cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
+What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
@iftex
@iflatex
@end iflatex
@end iftex
-@end table
-
-@node Smileys
-@subsection Smileys
-@cindex smileys
-
-@iftex
-@iflatex
-\gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
-\input{smiley}
-@end iflatex
-@end iftex
-
-@dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
-currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
-
-In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
-@file{.gnus.el} file:
-
-@lisp
-(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
-@end lisp
-
-Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
-the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
-faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
-text and maps that to file names.
+@quotation
+@dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
+constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
+organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
+e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
+databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
+in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
+@code{GIF} formats.
+@end quotation
-@vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
-@vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
-Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
-@code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
-and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
-@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
+@vindex gnus-picon-databases
+For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
+point your Web browser at
+@uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
-The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
-which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
+If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
+picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
-The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
-element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
-and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
+To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
+@code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
+Picons databases.
-The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
-files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
+The following variables offer control over where things are located.
@table @code
-@item smiley-data-directory
-@vindex smiley-data-directory
-Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
-
-@item smiley-flesh-color
-@vindex smiley-flesh-color
-Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
+@item gnus-picon-databases
+@vindex gnus-picon-databases
+The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
+containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
+subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
+"/usr/local/faces")}.
-@item smiley-features-color
-@vindex smiley-features-color
-Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
+@item gnus-picon-news-directories
+@vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
+List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
+newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
-@item smiley-tongue-color
-@vindex smiley-tongue-color
-Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
+@item gnus-picon-user-directories
+@vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
+List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
+faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
-@item smiley-circle-color
-@vindex smiley-circle-color
-Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
+@item gnus-picon-domain-directories
+@vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
+List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
+domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
+want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
-@item smiley-mouse-face
-@vindex smiley-mouse-face
-Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
+@item gnus-picon-file-types
+@vindex gnus-picon-file-types
+Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
+@code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
@end table
-@node X-Face
-@subsection X-Face
-@cindex x-face
-
-@code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white image
-that's supposed to represent the author of the message. It seems to
-be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news readers.
-
-@cindex x-face
-@findex gnus-article-display-x-face
-@findex gnus-article-x-face-command
-@vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
-@vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
-@iftex
-@iflatex
-\include{xface}
-@end iflatex
-@end iftex
-@c @anchor{X-Face}
-
-Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
-@samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
-have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
-Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
+@node XVarious
+@subsection Various XEmacs Variables
-The variable that controls this is the
-@code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
-string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
-function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
-If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
-the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
+@table @code
+@item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
+@vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
+This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
+auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
+unusual directory structure.
-The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
-program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
-the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
-like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
-view the face.
+@item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
+@vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
+This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
+foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
-Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
-action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
-nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
-will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
-support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
-external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
-friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
-like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
+@item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
+@vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
+This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
+Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
+@code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
+@code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
-(NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
-@code{xface}).
+@item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
+@vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
+A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
+default.
+@end table
-@node Toolbar
-@subsection Toolbar
+@subsubsection Toolbar
@table @code
-@iftex
-@iflatex
-\margindex{}
-@end iflatex
-@end iftex
-
@item gnus-use-toolbar
@vindex gnus-use-toolbar
If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
@end table
-
-@node XVarious
-@subsection Various XEmacs Variables
-
-@table @code
-@item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
-@vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
-This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
-auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
-unusual directory structure.
-
-@item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
-@vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
-This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
-foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
-
-@item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
-@vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
-This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
-Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
-@code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
-@code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
-
-@item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
-@vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
-A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
-default.
-
@iftex
@iflatex
\margindex{}
@end iflatex
@end iftex
-@end table
-
-
-
@node Fuzzy Matching
@section Fuzzy Matching
(``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
-This is annoying.
+This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
+
+@menu
+* The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
+* Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
+* SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
+* Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
+* Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
+* Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
+@end menu
+
+@node The problem of spam
+@subsection The problem of spam
+@cindex email spam
+@cindex spam filtering approaches
+@cindex filtering approaches, spam
+@cindex UCE
+@cindex unsolicited commercial email
+
+First, some background on spam.
+
+If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
+termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it
+exists because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail,
+so only a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to
+make it worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most
+common spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for
+further spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers},
+but terms like @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, @emph{sociopaths}, and
+@emph{morons} are in common use as well.
+
+Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
+dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
+example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
+unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
+their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
+of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
+be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
+through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
+requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
+and processing.
+
+The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering, at the mail
+server or when you sort through incoming mail. If you get 200 spam
+messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you block
+@samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about @samp{VIAGRA}, you
+discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the message. If you get
+lots of spam from China, for example, you try to filter all mail from
+Chinese IPs.
+
+This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate e-mail. For
+instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest has been
+blocked by overzealous mail filters because it @strong{contained}
+words that were common in spam messages. The risks of blocking a
+whole country from contacting you should also be obvious, so don't do
+it if you have the choice. Nevertheless, in isolated cases, with
+great care, direct filtering of mail can be useful.
+
+Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
+processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
+@var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
+Ghana, Estonia, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
+@var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into a
+database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the number
+of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When a user
+of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a message is
+spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
+
+Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
+a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
+fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
+spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
+well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
+sending spam, and their web sites and mailing lists have been shut
+down for some time because of the incident.
+
+The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
+based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
+the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
+words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
+analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
+classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
+run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
+to store the database of spam analyses. Statistical analysis on the
+server is gaining popularity. This has the advantage of letting the
+user Just Read Mail, but has the disadvantage that it's harder to tell
+the server that it has misclassified mail.
+
+Fighting spam is not easy, no matter what anyone says. There is no
+magic switch that will distinguish Viagra ads from Mom's e-mails.
+Even people are having a hard time telling spam apart from non-spam,
+because spammers are actively looking to fool us into thinking they
+are Mom, essentially. Spamming is irritating, irresponsible, and
+idiotic behavior from a bunch of people who think the world owes them
+a favor. We hope the following sections will help you in fighting the
+spam plague.
+
+@node Anti-Spam Basics
+@subsection Anti-Spam Basics
+@cindex email spam
+@cindex spam
+@cindex UCE
+@cindex unsolicited commercial email
-The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
+One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
@samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
(@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
@lisp
-(
- ...
+(...
(to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
- (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
- ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
- "spam"))
- ...
-)
+ (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
+ ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
+ "spam"))
+ ...)
@end lisp
This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
(This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
-In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
+In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
-If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
-automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
-at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
-Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
-cosmic balance somewhat.
-
This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
+Be careful with this approach. Spammers are wise to it.
+
+
+@node SpamAssassin
+@subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
+@cindex SpamAssassin
+@cindex Vipul's Razor
+@cindex DCC
+
+The days where the hints in the previous section were sufficient in
+avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
+that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
+easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
+fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
+though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
+easy to adapt it to most other tools.
+
+Note that this section does not involve the @code{spam.el} package,
+which is discussed in the next section. If you don't care for all
+the features of @code{spam.el}, you can make do with these simple
+recipes.
+
+If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
+need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
+@code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
+Specifiers}) follow.
+
+@lisp
+(setq mail-sources
+ '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
+ (pop :user "jrl"
+ :server "pophost"
+ :postscript
+ "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
+@end lisp
+
+Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
+the mail contain e.g.@: a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
+filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
+
+@lisp
+(setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
+ ...))
+@end lisp
+
+Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
+
+@lisp
+(setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
+ nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
+ ...))
+@end lisp
+
+Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
+programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
+might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
+call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
+
+@lisp
+(setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
+ ...))
+(defun kevin-spamassassin ()
+ (save-excursion
+ (save-restriction
+ (widen)
+ (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
+ "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
+ "spam"))))
+@end lisp
+
+Note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will not be
+downloaded by default. You need to set
+@code{nnimap-split-download-body} to t to do that (@pxref{Splitting in
+IMAP}).
+
+That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
+might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
+spam. And here is the nifty function:
+
+@lisp
+ (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
+ "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
+ (interactive)
+ (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
+ (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
+ (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
+@end lisp
+
+@node Hashcash
+@subsection Hashcash
+@cindex hashcash
+
+A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
+costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
+you cannot rely on everyone in the world using this technique,
+since it is not part of the Internet standards, but it may be useful
+in smaller communities.
+
+While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
+work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
+new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
+will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
+to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
+instead prefers that everyone you contact through e-mail supports the
+scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
+The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
+often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
+one of them separately.
+
+@cindex X-Hashcash
+The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
+compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
+resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
+header. For more details, and for the external application
+@code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
+@uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
+information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
+
+If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
+like:
+
+@lisp
+(require 'hashcash)
+(add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
+@end lisp
+
+The @file{hashcash.el} library can be found in the Gnus development
+contrib directory or at
+@uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}.
+
+You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
+
+@table @code
+
+@item hashcash-default-payment
+@vindex hashcash-default-payment
+This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
+should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
+done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
+
+@item hashcash-payment-alist
+@vindex hashcash-payment-alist
+Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
+default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
+@var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
+or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
+that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
+@var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
+(normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
+
+@item hashcash
+@vindex hashcash
+Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
+
+@end table
+
+Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
+hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
+customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
+a useful contribution, however.
+
+@node Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
+@subsection Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
+@cindex spam filtering
+@cindex spam
+
+The idea behind @file{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
+and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @file{spam.el} does two things: it
+filters new mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam or ham.
+@dfn{Ham} is the name used throughout @file{spam.el} to indicate
+non-spam messages.
+
+First of all, you @strong{must} run the function
+@code{spam-initialize} to autoload @code{spam.el} and to install the
+@code{spam.el} hooks. There is one exception: if you use the
+@code{spam-use-stat} (@pxref{spam-stat spam filtering}) setting, you
+should turn it on before @code{spam-initialize}:
+
+@example
+(setq spam-use-stat t) ;; if needed
+(spam-initialize)
+@end example
+
+So, what happens when you load @file{spam.el}?
+
+First, some hooks will get installed by @code{spam-initialize}. There
+are some hooks for @code{spam-stat} so it can save its databases, and
+there are hooks so interesting things will happen when you enter and
+leave a group. More on the sequence of events later (@pxref{Spam
+ELisp Package Sequence of Events}).
+
+You get the following keyboard commands:
+
+@table @kbd
+
+@item M-d
+@itemx M s x
+@itemx S x
+@kindex M-d
+@kindex S x
+@kindex M s x
+@findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
+@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
+
+Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark.
+Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
+with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group. This is done automatically
+for unread articles in @emph{spam} groups.
+
+@item M s t
+@itemx S t
+@kindex M s t
+@kindex S t
+@findex spam-bogofilter-score
+@code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
+
+You must have Bogofilter installed for that command to work properly.
+
+@xref{Bogofilter}.
+
+@end table
+
+Also, when you load @file{spam.el}, you will be able to customize its
+variables. Try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{spam} variable
+group.
+
+@menu
+* Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events::
+* Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail::
+* Spam ELisp Package Global Variables::
+* Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples::
+* Blacklists and Whitelists::
+* BBDB Whitelists::
+* Gmane Spam Reporting::
+* Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
+* Blackholes::
+* Regular Expressions Header Matching::
+* Bogofilter::
+* ifile spam filtering::
+* spam-stat spam filtering::
+* SpamOracle::
+* Extending the Spam ELisp package::
+@end menu
+
+@node Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events
+@subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events
+@cindex spam filtering
+@cindex spam filtering sequence of events
+@cindex spam
+
+You must read this section to understand how @code{spam.el} works.
+Do not skip, speed-read, or glance through this section.
+
+There are two @emph{contact points}, if you will, between
+@code{spam.el} and the rest of Gnus: checking new mail for spam, and
+leaving a group.
+
+Getting new mail is done in one of two ways. You can either split
+your incoming mail or you can classify new articles as ham or spam
+when you enter the group.
+
+Splitting incoming mail is better suited to mail backends such as
+@code{nnml} or @code{nnimap} where new mail appears in a single file
+called a @dfn{Spool File}. See @xref{Spam ELisp Package Filtering of
+Incoming Mail}.
+
+For backends such as @code{nntp} there is no incoming mail spool, so
+an alternate mechanism must be used. This may also happen for
+backends where the server is in charge of splitting incoming mail, and
+Gnus does not do further splitting. The @code{spam-autodetect} and
+@code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameters (accessible with
+@kbd{G c} and @kbd{G p} as usual), and the corresponding variables
+@code{gnus-spam-autodetect-methods} and
+@code{gnus-spam-autodetect-methods} (accessible with @kbd{M-x
+customize-variable} as usual).
+
+When @code{spam-autodetect} is used, it hooks into the process of
+entering a group. Thus, entering a group with unseen or unread
+articles becomes the substitute for checking incoming mail. Whether
+only unseen articles or all unread articles will be processed is
+determined by the @code{spam-autodetect-recheck-messages}. When set
+to t, unread messages will be rechecked.
+
+@code{spam-autodetect} grants the user at once more and less control
+of spam filtering. The user will have more control over each group's
+spam methods, so for instance the @samp{ding} group may have
+@code{spam-use-BBDB} as the autodetection method, while the
+@samp{suspect} group may have the @code{spam-use-blacklist} and
+@code{spam-use-bogofilter} methods enabled. Every article detected to
+be spam will be marked with the spam mark @samp{$} and processed on
+exit from the group as normal spam. The user has less control over
+the @emph{sequence} of checks, as he might with @code{spam-split}.
+
+When the newly split mail goes into groups, or messages are
+autodetected to be ham or spam, those groups must be exited (after
+entering, if needed) for further spam processing to happen. It
+matters whether the group is considered a ham group, a spam group, or
+is unclassified, based on its @code{spam-content} parameter
+(@pxref{Spam ELisp Package Global Variables}). Spam groups have the
+additional characteristic that, when entered, any unseen or unread
+articles (depending on the @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam}
+variable) will be marked as spam. Thus, mail split into a spam group
+gets automatically marked as spam when you enter the group.
+
+So, when you exit a group, the @code{spam-processors} are applied, if
+any are set, and the processed mail is moved to the
+@code{ham-process-destination} or the @code{spam-process-destination}
+depending on the article's classification. If the
+@code{ham-process-destination} or the @code{spam-process-destination},
+whichever is appropriate, are nil, the article is left in the current
+group.
+
+If a spam is found in any group (this can be changed to only non-spam
+groups with @code{spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only}), it is
+processed by the active @code{spam-processors} (@pxref{Spam ELisp
+Package Global Variables}) when the group is exited. Furthermore, the
+spam is moved to the @code{spam-process-destination} (@pxref{Spam
+ELisp Package Global Variables}) for further training or deletion.
+You have to load the @code{gnus-registry.el} package and enable the
+@code{spam-log-to-registry} variable if you want spam to be processed
+no more than once. Thus, spam is detected and processed everywhere,
+which is what most people want. If the
+@code{spam-process-destination} is nil, the spam is marked as
+expired, which is usually the right thing to do.
+
+If spam can not be moved - because of a read-only backend such as NNTP,
+for example, it will be copied.
+
+If a ham mail is found in a ham group, as determined by the
+@code{ham-marks} parameter, it is processed as ham by the active ham
+@code{spam-processor} when the group is exited. With the variables
+@code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} and
+@code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} the behavior can be further
+altered so ham found anywhere can be processed. You have to load the
+@code{gnus-registry.el} package and enable the
+@code{spam-log-to-registry} variable if you want ham to be processed
+no more than once. Thus, ham is detected and processed only when
+necessary, which is what most people want. More on this in
+@xref{Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples}.
+
+If ham can not be moved - because of a read-only backend such as NNTP,
+for example, it will be copied.
+
+If all this seems confusing, don't worry. Soon it will be as natural
+as typing Lisp one-liners on a neural interface... err, sorry, that's
+50 years in the future yet. Just trust us, it's not so bad.
+
+@node Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail
+@subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail
+@cindex spam filtering
+@cindex spam filtering incoming mail
+@cindex spam
+
+To use the @file{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
+must add the following to your fancy split list
+@code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
+
+@example
+(: spam-split)
+@end example
+
+Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
+@code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
+nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
+
+The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the
+mail considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
+@code{spam-split-group}. By default that group name is @samp{spam},
+but you can customize @code{spam-split-group}. Make sure the contents
+of @code{spam-split-group} are an @emph{unqualified} group name, for
+instance in an @code{nnimap} server @samp{your-server} the value
+@samp{spam} will turn out to be @samp{nnimap+your-server:spam}. The
+value @samp{nnimap+server:spam}, therefore, is wrong and will
+actually give you the group
+@samp{nnimap+your-server:nnimap+server:spam} which may or may not
+work depending on your server's tolerance for strange group names.
+
+You can also give @code{spam-split} a parameter,
+e.g. @samp{'spam-use-regex-headers} or @samp{"maybe-spam"}. Why is
+this useful?
+
+Take these split rules (with @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and
+@code{spam-use-blackholes} set):
+
+@example
+ nnimap-split-fancy '(|
+ (any "ding" "ding")
+ (: spam-split)
+ ;; default mailbox
+ "mail")
+@end example
+
+Now, the problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the
+ding folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam
+detected by SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through,
+when it's sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to
+the ding list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the
+invocation of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
+
+You can let SpamAssassin headers supersede ding rules, but all other
+@code{spam-split} rules (including a second invocation of the
+regex-headers check) will be after the ding rule:
+
+@example
+ nnimap-split-fancy '(|
+;;; all spam detected by spam-use-regex-headers goes to "regex-spam"
+ (: spam-split "regex-spam" 'spam-use-regex-headers)
+ (any "ding" "ding")
+;;; all other spam detected by spam-split goes to spam-split-group
+ (: spam-split)
+ ;; default mailbox
+ "mail")
+@end example
+
+This lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks depending on
+your particular needs, and to target the results of those checks to a
+particular spam group. You don't have to throw all mail into all the
+spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that messages to
+mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have resource-intensive
+blackhole checks performed on them. You could also specify different
+spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap split. Go crazy.
+
+You should still have specific checks such as
+@code{spam-use-regex-headers} set to @code{t}, even if you
+specifically invoke @code{spam-split} with the check. The reason is
+that when loading @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done
+depending on what @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set. This
+is usually not critical, though.
+
+@emph{Note for IMAP users}
+
+The boolean variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} needs to be
+set, if you want to split based on the whole message instead of just
+the headers. By default, the nnimap back end will only retrieve the
+message headers. If you use @code{spam-check-bogofilter},
+@code{spam-check-ifile}, or @code{spam-check-stat} (the splitters that
+can benefit from the full message body), you should set this variable.
+It is not set by default because it will slow @acronym{IMAP} down, and
+that is not an appropriate decision to make on behalf of the user.
+
+@xref{Splitting in IMAP}.
+
+@emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
+statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
+don't.}
+
+@node Spam ELisp Package Global Variables
+@subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Global Variables
+@cindex spam filtering
+@cindex spam filtering variables
+@cindex spam variables
+@cindex spam
+
+@vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
+The concepts of ham processors and spam processors are very important.
+Ham processors and spam processors for a group can be set with the
+@code{spam-process} group parameter, or the
+@code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. Ham processors take
+mail known to be non-spam (@emph{ham}) and process it in some way so
+that later similar mail will also be considered non-spam. Spam
+processors take mail known to be spam and process it so similar spam
+will be detected later.
+
+The format of the spam or ham processor entry used to be a symbol,
+but now it is a cons cell. See the individual spam processor entries
+for more information.
+
+@vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
+Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
+one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
+@code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
+groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
+@code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
+by customizing the corresponding variable
+@code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
+parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
+also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
+classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
+groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
+@code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
+considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
+default.
+
+@vindex gnus-spam-mark
+@cindex $
+In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
+they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
+group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
+unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
+thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
+will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
+@code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to @code{nil}. You
+should remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary
+buffer for every message that is not spam after all. To remove the
+@samp{$} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or
+@kbd{d} for declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a
+group, all spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam
+processor which will study them as spam samples.
+
+Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
+@code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
+and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
+@samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
+low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
+are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
+use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
+should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
+
+@defvar ham-marks
+You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
+marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
+deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks (the idea is
+that these articles have been read, but are not spam). It can be
+useful to also include the tick mark in the ham marks. It is not
+recommended to make the unread mark a ham mark, because it normally
+indicates a lack of classification. But you can do it, and we'll be
+happy for you.
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar spam-marks
+You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
+marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
+the spam mark. It is not recommended to change that, but you can if
+you really want to.
+@end defvar
+
+When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
+@code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
+to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
+explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
+@samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
+spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
+and nothing else.
+
+@vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
+When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
+marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
+not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
+@strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
+determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
+parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
+variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
+names (it's easiest to customize this variable with
+@code{customize-variable gnus-ham-process-destinations}). Each
+newsgroup specification has the format (REGEXP PROCESSOR) in a
+standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually.
+The ultimate location is a group name or names. If the
+@code{ham-process-destination} parameter is not set, ham articles are
+left in place. If the
+@code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
+set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
+
+If ham can not be moved - because of a read-only backend such as NNTP,
+for example, it will be copied.
+
+Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
+expression! This enables you to send your ham to a regular mail
+group and to a @emph{ham training} group.
+
+When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
+a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
+
+@vindex spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups
+By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} is
+@code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in spam groups
+to be processed. Normally this is not done, you are expected instead
+to send your ham to a ham group and process it there.
+
+@vindex spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups
+By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} is
+@code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in non-ham (spam
+or unclassified) groups to be processed. Normally this is not done,
+you are expected instead to send your ham to a ham group and process
+it there.
+
+@vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
+When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
+@strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
+the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
+@code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
+regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
+customize this variable with @code{customize-variable
+gnus-spam-process-destinations}). Each newsgroup specification has
+the repeated format (REGEXP GROUP) and they are all in a standard Lisp
+list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually. The ultimate
+location is a group name or names. If the
+@code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set, the spam
+articles are only expired. The group name is fully qualified, meaning
+that if you see @samp{nntp:servername} before the group name in the
+group buffer then you need it here as well.
+
+If spam can not be moved - because of a read-only backend such as NNTP,
+for example, it will be copied.
+
+Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
+expression! This enables you to send your spam to multiple @emph{spam
+training} groups.
+
+@vindex spam-log-to-registry
+The problem with processing ham and spam is that Gnus doesn't track
+this processing by default. Enable the @code{spam-log-to-registry}
+variable so @code{spam.el} will use @code{gnus-registry.el} to track
+what articles have been processed, and avoid processing articles
+multiple times. Keep in mind that if you limit the number of registry
+entries, this won't work as well as it does without a limit.
+
+@vindex spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam
+Set this variable if you want only unseen articles in spam groups to
+be marked as spam. By default, it is set. If you set it to nil,
+unread articles will also be marked as spam.
+
+@vindex spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group
+Set this variable if you want ham to be unmarked before it is moved
+out of the spam group. This is very useful when you use something
+like the tick mark @samp{!} to mark ham - the article will be placed
+in your ham-process-destination, unmarked as if it came fresh from
+the mail server.
+
+@vindex spam-autodetect-recheck-messages
+When autodetecting spam, this variable tells @code{spam.el} whether
+only unseen articles or all unread articles should be checked for
+spam. It is recommended that you leave it off.
+
+@node Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples
+@subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples
+@cindex spam filtering
+@cindex spam filtering configuration examples
+@cindex spam configuration examples
+@cindex spam
+
+@subsubheading Ted's setup
+
+From Ted Zlatanov <tzz@@lifelogs.com>.
+@example
+
+;; for gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent and spam autodetection
+;; see gnus-registry.el for more information
+(gnus-registry-initialize)
+(spam-initialize)
+
+;; I like control-S for marking spam
+(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map "\C-s" 'gnus-summary-mark-as-spam)
+
+(setq
+ spam-log-to-registry t ;; for spam autodetection
+ spam-use-BBDB t
+ spam-use-regex-headers t ; catch X-Spam-Flag (SpamAssassin)
+ ;; all groups with "spam" in the name contain spam
+ gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents '(("spam" gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
+ ;; see documentation for these
+ spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only nil
+ spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam t
+ spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group t
+ nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
+ ;; understand what this does before you copy it to your own setup!
+ nnimap-split-fancy '(|
+ ;; trace references to parents and put in their group
+ (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
+ ;; this will catch server-side SpamAssassin tags
+ (: spam-split 'spam-use-regex-headers)
+ (any "ding" "ding")
+ ;; note that spam by default will go to "spam"
+ (: spam-split)
+ ;; default mailbox
+ "mail"))
+
+;; my parameters, set with `G p'
+
+;; all nnml groups, and all nnimap groups except
+;; "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train" and
+;; "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam": any spam goes to nnimap training,
+;; because it must have been detected manually
+
+((spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
+
+;; all NNTP groups
+;; autodetect spam with the blacklist and ham with the BBDB
+((spam-autodetect-methods spam-use-blacklist spam-use-BBDB)
+;; send all spam to the training group
+ (spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
+
+;; only some NNTP groups, where I want to autodetect spam
+((spam-autodetect . t))
+
+;; my nnimap "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam" group
+
+;; this is a spam group
+((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam)
+
+ ;; any spam (which happens when I enter for all unseen messages,
+ ;; because of the gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents setting above), goes to
+ ;; "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train" unless I mark it as ham
+
+ (spam-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train")
+
+ ;; any ham goes to my "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail" folder, but
+ ;; also to my "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham" folder for training
+
+ (ham-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail"
+ "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham")
+ ;; in this group, only '!' marks are ham
+ (ham-marks
+ (gnus-ticked-mark))
+ ;; remembers senders in the blacklist on the way out - this is
+ ;; definitely not needed, it just makes me feel better
+ (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist)))
+
+;; Later, on the IMAP server I use the "train" group for training
+;; SpamAssassin to recognize spam, and the "trainham" group for
+;; recognizing ham - but Gnus has nothing to do with it.
+
+@end example
+
+@subsubheading Using @file{spam.el} on an IMAP server with a statistical filter on the server
+
+From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
+
+My provider has set up bogofilter (in combination with @acronym{DCC}) on
+the mail server (@acronym{IMAP}). Recognized spam goes to
+@samp{spam.detected}, the rest goes through the normal filter rules,
+i.e. to @samp{some.folder} or to @samp{INBOX}. Training on false
+positives or negatives is done by copying or moving the article to
+@samp{training.ham} or @samp{training.spam} respectively. A cron job on
+the server feeds those to bogofilter with the suitable ham or spam
+options and deletes them from the @samp{training.ham} and
+@samp{training.spam} folders.
+
+With the following entries in @code{gnus-parameters}, @code{spam.el}
+does most of the job for me:
+
+@lisp
+ ("nnimap:spam\\.detected"
+ (gnus-article-sort-functions '(gnus-article-sort-by-chars))
+ (ham-process-destination "nnimap:INBOX" "nnimap:training.ham")
+ (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
+ ("nnimap:\\(INBOX\\|other-folders\\)"
+ (spam-process-destination . "nnimap:training.spam")
+ (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham))
+@end lisp
+
+@itemize
+
+@item @b{The Spam folder:}
+
+In the folder @samp{spam.detected}, I have to check for false positives
+(i.e. legitimate mails, that were wrongly judged as spam by
+bogofilter or DCC).
+
+Because of the @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam} entry, all
+messages are marked as spam (with @code{$}). When I find a false
+positive, I mark the message with some other ham mark (@code{ham-marks},
+@ref{Spam ELisp Package Global Variables}). On group exit, those
+messages are copied to both groups, @samp{INBOX} (were I want to have
+the article) and @samp{training.ham} (for training bogofilter) and
+deleted from the @samp{spam.detected} folder.
+
+The @code{gnus-article-sort-by-chars} entry simplifies detection of
+false positives for me. I receive lots of worms (sweN, @dots{}), that all
+have a similar size. Grouping them by size (i.e. chars) makes finding
+other false positives easier. (Of course worms aren't @i{spam}
+(@acronym{UCE}, @acronym{UBE}) strictly speaking. Anyhow, bogofilter is
+an excellent tool for filtering those unwanted mails for me.)
+
+@item @b{Ham folders:}
+
+In my ham folders, I just hit @kbd{S x}
+(@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) whenever I see an unrecognized spam
+mail (false negative). On group exit, those messages are moved to
+@samp{training.ham}.
+@end itemize
+
+@subsubheading Reporting spam articles in Gmane groups with @code{spam-report.el}
+
+From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
+
+With following entry in @code{gnus-parameters}, @kbd{S x}
+(@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) marks articles in @code{gmane.*}
+groups as spam and reports the to Gmane at group exit:
+
+@lisp
+ ("^gmane\\."
+ (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane)))
+@end lisp
+
+Additionally, I use `(setq spam-report-gmane-use-article-number nil)'
+because I don't read the groups directly from news.gmane.org, but
+through my local news server (leafnode). I.e. the article numbers are
+not the same as on news.gmane.org, thus @code{spam-report.el} has to check
+the @code{X-Report-Spam} header to find the correct number.
+
+@node Blacklists and Whitelists
+@subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
+@cindex spam filtering
+@cindex whitelists, spam filtering
+@cindex blacklists, spam filtering
+@cindex spam
+
+@defvar spam-use-blacklist
+
+Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
+splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
+will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
+filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
+be spammers.
+
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar spam-use-whitelist
+
+Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
+splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
+whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
+explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
+messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
+
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
+
+Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
+implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
+unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
+
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
+
+Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
+customizing the group parameters or the
+@code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
+added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
+spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
+
+@emph{WARNING}
+
+Instead of the obsolete
+@code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist}, it is recommended
+that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-blacklist)}. Everything will work
+the same way, we promise.
+
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
+
+Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
+customizing the group parameters or the
+@code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
+added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
+ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
+whitelist. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
+or @emph{unclassified} groups.
+
+@emph{WARNING}
+
+Instead of the obsolete
+@code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist}, it is recommended
+that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-whitelist)}. Everything will work
+the same way, we promise.
+
+@end defvar
+
+Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
+consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
+sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
+blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
+use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
+
+Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
+legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
+non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
+Emacs regular expression syntax.
+
+The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
+@code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
+the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
+directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
+@code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
+@file{blacklist} respectively.
+
+@node BBDB Whitelists
+@subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
+@cindex spam filtering
+@cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
+@cindex BBDB, spam filtering
+@cindex spam
+
+@defvar spam-use-BBDB
+
+Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
+Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
+addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
+for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
+not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
+explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
+messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
+
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
+
+Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
+implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
+unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
+addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
+classified as spammers.
+
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
+
+Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
+customizing the group parameters or the
+@code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
+added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
+ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
+BBDB. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
+or @emph{unclassified} groups.
+
+@emph{WARNING}
+
+Instead of the obsolete
+@code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB}, it is recommended
+that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-BBDB)}. Everything will work
+the same way, we promise.
+
+@end defvar
+
+@node Gmane Spam Reporting
+@subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
+@cindex spam reporting
+@cindex Gmane, spam reporting
+@cindex Gmane, spam reporting
+@cindex spam
+
+@defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
+
+Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
+customizing the group parameters or the
+@code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
+added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
+articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators via a
+HTTP request.
+
+Gmane can be found at @uref{http://gmane.org}.
+
+@emph{WARNING}
+
+Instead of the obsolete
+@code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane}, it is recommended
+that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-gmane)}. Everything will work the
+same way, we promise.
+
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar spam-report-gmane-use-article-number
+
+This variable is @code{t} by default. Set it to @code{nil} if you are
+running your own news server, for instance, and the local article
+numbers don't correspond to the Gmane article numbers. When
+@code{spam-report-gmane-use-article-number} is @code{nil},
+@code{spam-report.el} will use the @code{X-Report-Spam} header that
+Gmane provides.
+
+@end defvar
+
+@node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
+@subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
+@cindex spam filtering
+@cindex hashcash, spam filtering
+@cindex spam
+
+@defvar spam-use-hashcash
+
+Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
+Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
+instead of the sender address. You must have the @code{hashcash.el}
+package loaded for @code{spam-use-hashcash} to work properly.
+Messages without a hashcash payment token will be sent to the next
+spam-split rule. This is an explicit filter, meaning that unless a
+hashcash token is found, the messages are not assumed to be spam or
+ham.
+
+@end defvar
+
+@node Blackholes
+@subsubsection Blackholes
+@cindex spam filtering
+@cindex blackholes, spam filtering
+@cindex spam
+
+@defvar spam-use-blackholes
+
+This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
+blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
+when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
+holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
+list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
+contains outdated servers.
+
+The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
+@file{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
+you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
+this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
+possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
+use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
+
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar spam-blackhole-servers
+
+The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
+
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
+
+A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
+blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
+
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar spam-use-dig
+
+Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
+The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
+
+@end defvar
+
+Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
+ham processor for blackholes.
+
+@node Regular Expressions Header Matching
+@subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
+@cindex spam filtering
+@cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
+@cindex spam
+
+@defvar spam-use-regex-headers
+
+This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
+message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
+option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
+@code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
+Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
+message is spam or ham, respectively.
+
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
+
+The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
+the message, positively identify it as spam.
+
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
+
+The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
+the message, positively identify it as ham.
+
+@end defvar
+
+Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
+There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
+
+@node Bogofilter
+@subsubsection Bogofilter
+@cindex spam filtering
+@cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
+@cindex spam
+
+@defvar spam-use-bogofilter
+
+Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
+speedy Bogofilter.
+
+With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
+articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
+should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
+category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
+for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
+the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
+
+Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
+threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
+documentation.
+
+If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
+processing will be turned off.
+
+You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
+
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
+
+Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
+speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
+similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
+must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
+procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
+installation documents for details.
+
+You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
+
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
+Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
+customizing the group parameters or the
+@code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
+added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
+will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
+
+@emph{WARNING}
+
+Instead of the obsolete
+@code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
+that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
+the same way, we promise.
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
+Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
+customizing the group parameters or the
+@code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
+added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
+articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
+of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
+@emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
+
+@emph{WARNING}
+
+Instead of the obsolete
+@code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
+that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
+the same way, we promise.
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
+
+This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
+is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
+database directory.
+
+@end defvar
+
+The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
+purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
+@code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
+variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
+used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
+Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
+
+@node ifile spam filtering
+@subsubsection ifile spam filtering
+@cindex spam filtering
+@cindex ifile, spam filtering
+@cindex spam
+
+@defvar spam-use-ifile
+
+Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
+statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
+
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
+
+Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
+the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
+sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
+
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
+
+This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
+The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
+the default value of @samp{spam}.
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar spam-ifile-database-path
+
+This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
+default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
+
+@end defvar
+
+The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
+purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
+@code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
+should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
+functionality.
+
+@node spam-stat spam filtering
+@subsubsection spam-stat spam filtering
+@cindex spam filtering
+@cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
+@cindex spam-stat
+@cindex spam
+
+@xref{Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat}.
+
+@defvar spam-use-stat
+
+Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use
+spam-stat.el, an Emacs Lisp statistical analyzer.
+
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
+Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
+customizing the group parameters or the
+@code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
+added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
+articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
+
+@emph{WARNING}
+
+Instead of the obsolete
+@code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
+that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
+the same way, we promise.
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
+Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
+customizing the group parameters or the
+@code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
+added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
+articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
+of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
+@emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
+
+@emph{WARNING}
+
+Instead of the obsolete
+@code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
+that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
+the same way, we promise.
+@end defvar
+
+This enables @file{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
+@file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
+which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
+A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
+@code{spam-split} are provided.
+
+@node SpamOracle
+@subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
+@cindex spam filtering
+@cindex SpamOracle
+@cindex spam
+
+An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
+statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
+installed separately.
+
+There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
+mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
+then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
+mail as a spam mail or not.
+
+One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
+@xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
+the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
+
+The easiest method is to make @file{spam.el} (@pxref{Filtering Spam
+Using The Spam ELisp Package}) call SpamOracle.
+
+@vindex spam-use-spamoracle
+To enable SpamOracle usage by @file{spam.el}, set the variable
+@code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
+@code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy} as described in
+the section @xref{Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package}. In
+this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is filtered using
+SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be moved to
+@code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham messages stay
+in @samp{INBOX}:
+
+@example
+(setq spam-use-spamoracle t
+ spam-split-group "Junk"
+ nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
+ nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
+ nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
+@end example
+
+@defvar spam-use-spamoracle
+Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
+SpamOracle.
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
+Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
+user's PATH. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
+can be customized.
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar spam-spamoracle-database
+By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
+store its analyses. This is controlled by the variable
+@code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
+the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
+database to live somewhere special, set
+@code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
+@end defvar
+
+SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
+message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
+false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns the
+characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
+(training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
+SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary buffer
+and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using @file{spam.el}'s
+spam- and ham-processors, which is much more convenient. For a
+detailed description of spam- and ham-processors, @xref{Filtering Spam
+Using The Spam ELisp Package}.
+
+@defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
+Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
+customizing the group parameter or the
+@code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
+to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
+sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
+
+@emph{WARNING}
+
+Instead of the obsolete
+@code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
+that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
+the same way, we promise.
+@end defvar
+
+@defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
+Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
+customizing the group parameter or the
+@code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
+to a grup's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
+@emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
+messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam} or
+@emph{unclassified} groups.
+
+@emph{WARNING}
+
+Instead of the obsolete
+@code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
+that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
+the same way, we promise.
+@end defvar
+
+@emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of a group that has been
+classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
+messages.
+@example
+ ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
+ (spam-process ((ham spam-use-spamoracle)
+ (spam spam-use-spamoracle))))
+@end example
+For this group the @code{spam-use-spamoracle} is installed for both
+ham and spam processing. If the group contains spam message
+(e.g. because SpamOracle has not had enough sample messages yet) and
+the user marks some messages as spam messages, these messages will be
+processed by SpamOracle. The processor sends the messages to
+SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
+
+@node Extending the Spam ELisp package
+@subsubsection Extending the Spam ELisp package
+@cindex spam filtering
+@cindex spam elisp package, extending
+@cindex extending the spam elisp package
+
+Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
+incoming mail, provide the following:
+
+@enumerate
+
+@item
+code
+
+@lisp
+(defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
+ "True if blackbox should be used.")
+@end lisp
+
+Add
+@example
+ (spam-use-blackbox . spam-check-blackbox)
+@end example
+to @code{spam-list-of-checks}.
+
+Add
+@example
+ (gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox ham spam-use-blackbox)
+ (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox spam spam-use-blackbox)
+@end example
+to @code{spam-list-of-processors}.
+
+Add
+@example
+ (spam-use-blackbox spam-blackbox-register-routine
+ nil
+ spam-blackbox-unregister-routine
+ nil)
+@end example
+to @code{spam-registration-functions}. Write the register/unregister
+routines using the bogofilter register/unregister routines as a
+start, or other restister/unregister routines more appropriate to
+Blackbox.
+
+@item
+functionality
+
+Write the @code{spam-check-blackbox} function. It should return
+@samp{nil} or @code{spam-split-group}, observing the other
+conventions. See the existing @code{spam-check-*} functions for
+examples of what you can do, and stick to the template unless you
+fully understand the reasons why you aren't.
+
+Make sure to add @code{spam-use-blackbox} to
+@code{spam-list-of-statistical-checks} if Blackbox is a statistical
+mail analyzer that needs the full message body to operate.
+
+@end enumerate
+
+For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
+
+@enumerate
+
+@item
+code
+
+Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
+provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
+
+Also, ham and spam processors are being phased out as single
+variables. Instead the form @code{'(spam spam-use-blackbox)} or
+@code{'(ham spam-use-blackbox)} is favored. For now, spam/ham
+processor variables are still around but they won't be for long.
+
+@lisp
+(defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-spam"
+ "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
+Only applicable to spam groups.")
+
+(defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-ham"
+ "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
+Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
+
+@end lisp
+
+@item
+Gnus parameters
+
+Add
+@example
+ (const :tag "Spam: Blackbox" (spam spam-use-blackbox))
+ (const :tag "Ham: Blackbox" (ham spam-use-blackbox))
+@end example
+to the @code{spam-process} group parameter in @code{gnus.el}. Make
+sure you do it twice, once for the parameter and once for the
+variable customization.
+
+Add
+@example
+ (variable-item spam-use-blackbox)
+@end example
+to the @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameter in
+@code{gnus.el}.
+
+@end enumerate
+
+
+@node Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
+@subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
+@cindex Paul Graham
+@cindex Graham, Paul
+@cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
+@cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
+@cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
+
+Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
+statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
+Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
+filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
+the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
+always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
+on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
+this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
+that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
+or not.
+
+The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
+with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
+either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
+collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
+word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
+non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
+probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
+than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
+
+Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
+First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
+non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
+collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
+this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
+
+@menu
+* Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
+* Splitting mail using spam-stat::
+* Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
+@end menu
+
+@node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
+@subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
+
+Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
+create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
+one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
+for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
+need several hundred emails in both collections.
+
+Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
+creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
+per mail. Use the following:
+
+@defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
+Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
+is treated as one spam mail.
+@end defun
+
+@defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
+Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
+file is treated as one non-spam mail.
+@end defun
+
+Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
+directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
+the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
+@code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
+@file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
+@samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
+
+When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
+locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
+to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
+@file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
+@code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
+
+@defvar spam-stat
+This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
+dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
+collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
+word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
+@end defvar
+
+If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
+reset the dictionary.
+
+@defun spam-stat-reset
+Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
+@end defun
+
+When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
+be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
+(instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
+can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
+not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
+only non-spam mails.
+
+@defun spam-stat-reduce-size
+Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
+to update the dictionary incrementally.
+@end defun
+
+@defun spam-stat-save
+Save the dictionary.
+@end defun
+
+@defvar spam-stat-file
+The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
+@file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
+@end defvar
+
+@node Splitting mail using spam-stat
+@subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
+
+In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
+following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
+
+@lisp
+(require 'spam-stat)
+(spam-stat-load)
+@end lisp
+
+This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
+created.
+
+Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
+determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
+the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
+use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
+
+In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
+@samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
+spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
+@code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
+
+@lisp
+(setq nnmail-split-fancy
+ `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
+ "mail.misc"))
+@end lisp
+
+@defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
+The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
+@end defvar
+
+If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
+the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
+expression are considered potential spam.
+
+@lisp
+(setq nnmail-split-fancy
+ `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
+ (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
+ "mail.misc"))
+@end lisp
+
+If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
+creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
+consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
+non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
+mails, when creating the dictionary!
+
+@lisp
+(setq nnmail-split-fancy
+ `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
+ ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
+ "mail.misc"))
+@end lisp
+
+You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
+HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
+@code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
+@samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
+nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
+dictionary!
+
+@lisp
+(setq nnmail-split-fancy
+ `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
+ (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
+ ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
+ "mail.misc"))
+@end lisp
+
+
+@node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
+@subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
+
+The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
+
+@defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
+Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
+Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
+@end defun
+
+@defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
+Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
+mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
+@end defun
+
+@defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
+Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
+mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
+already been processed as non-spam.
+@end defun
+
+@defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
+Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
+normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
+been processed as spam.
+@end defun
+
+@defun spam-stat-save
+Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
+variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
+@end defun
+
+@defun spam-stat-load
+Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
+variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
+@end defun
+
+@defun spam-stat-score-word
+Return the spam score for a word.
+@end defun
+
+@defun spam-stat-score-buffer
+Return the spam score for a buffer.
+@end defun
+
+@defun spam-stat-split-fancy
+Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
+spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
+@end defun
+
+Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
+following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
+
+@lisp
+(require 'spam-stat)
+(spam-stat-load)
+@end lisp
+
+Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
+
+@smallexample
+Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
+Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
+Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
+Save table: (spam-stat-save)
+File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
+Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
+Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
+Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
+Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
+Save table: (spam-stat-save)
+File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
+Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
+Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
+Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
+@end smallexample
+
+Here is how you would create your dictionary:
+
+@smallexample
+Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
+Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
+Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
+Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
+Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
+Save table: (spam-stat-save)
+@end smallexample
+
+@node Other modes
+@section Interaction with other modes
+
+@subsection Dired
+@cindex dired
+
+@code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} provided some useful functions for dired
+buffers. It is enabled with
+@lisp
+(add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
+@end lisp
+
+@table @kbd
+@item C-c C-m C-a
+@findex gnus-dired-attach
+Send dired's marked files as an attachment (@code{gnus-dired-attach}).
+You will be prompted for a message buffer.
+
+@item C-c C-m C-l
+@findex gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap
+Visit a file according to the appropriate mailcap entry
+(@code{gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap}). With prefix, open file in a new
+buffer.
+
+@item C-c C-m C-p
+@findex gnus-dired-print
+Print file according to the mailcap entry (@code{gnus-dired-print}). If
+there is no print command, print in a PostScript image.
+@end table
@node Various Various
@section Various Various
@table @code
@item gnus-home-directory
-All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
-defaults to @file{~/}.
+@vindex gnus-home-directory
+All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
+variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
@item gnus-directory
@vindex gnus-directory
-Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
-which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
-@file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
+Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
+this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
+variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
-Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
+Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
@file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
@lisp
+@group
(setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
'((?: . ?_)))
+@end group
@end lisp
In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
@samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
group).
-@sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
+@acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
@end table
* Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
* Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
* Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
-* Frequently Asked Questions::
+* Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
@end menu
@node XEmacs
@section XEmacs
@cindex XEmacs
-@cindex Installing under XEmacs
+@cindex installing under XEmacs
XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
-requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
-@samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
-@samp{xemacs-base}, and @samp{fsf-compat}.
+requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{mail-lib}, @samp{xemacs-base},
+@samp{eterm}, @samp{sh-script}, @samp{net-utils}, @samp{os-utils},
+@samp{dired}, @samp{mh-e}, @samp{sieve}, @samp{ps-print}, @samp{w3},
+@samp{pgg}, @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{ecrypto}, and @samp{sasl}.
@node History
@node Gnus Versions
@subsection Gnus Versions
-@cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
@cindex ding Gnus
@cindex September Gnus
+@cindex Red Gnus
@cindex Quassia Gnus
+@cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
+@cindex Oort Gnus
+@cindex No Gnus
+@cindex Gnus versions
The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
-Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
-@sc{mime} capabilities.
+Japan. It's based on a library called @acronym{SEMI}, which provides
+@acronym{MIME} capabilities.
These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
-@sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
+@acronym{MIME} and multilingualization things, especially important for
Japanese users.
@table @strong
-@item RFC 822
+@item RFC (2)822
@cindex RFC 822
+@cindex RFC 2822
There are no known breaches of this standard.
@item RFC 1036
various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
+@item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
+@cindex @acronym{MIME}
+All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
+
+@item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
+Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
+
+@item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
+@cindex RFC 1991
+@cindex RFC 2440
+RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
+published as an informational RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
+called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
+non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
+encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
+decryption).
+
+@item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
+RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
+1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
+Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
+
+@item S/MIME - RFC 2633
+RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
+
+@item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
+RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
+(@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
+authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
+lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
+protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
+integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
+GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
+
@end table
If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
@cindex Mule
@cindex Emacs
-Gnus should work on :
+Gnus should work on:
@itemize @bullet
Emacs 20.3 and up.
@item
-XEmacs 20.4 and up.
+XEmacs 21.1.1 and up.
@end itemize
This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
-Emacs versions.
+Emacs versions. However, T-gnus does support ``Mule 2.3 based on Emacs
+19.34'' and possibly the versions of XEmacs prior to 21.1.1, e.g. 20.4.
+See the file ``README'' in the T-gnus distribution for more details.
There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
-I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
+I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
wrong show.
@itemize @bullet
@item
Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
-nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
+nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
functionality and stuff.
Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
@item
-Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
+Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
@item
Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
Christopher Davis,
Andrew Eskilsson,
Kai Grossjohann,
+Kevin Greiner,
+Jesper Harder,
+Paul Jarc,
+Simon Josefsson,
David Kågedal,
Richard Pieri,
Fabrice Popineau,
Daniel Quinlan,
+Michael Shields,
+Reiner Steib,
Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
+Jack Vinson,
+Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
and
-Jack Vinson.
+Teodor Zlatanov.
Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
Magnus Hammerin,
Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
Raja R. Harinath,
-Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
+Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
P. E. Jareth Hein,
Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
Scott Hofmann,
Brad Howes,
Miguel de Icaza,
François Felix Ingrand,
-Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
+Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
Lee Iverson,
Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
Randell Jesup,
Fred Johansen,
Gareth Jones,
-Simon Josefsson,
Greg Klanderman,
Karl Kleinpaste,
Michael Klingbeil,
Christoph Wedler,
Joe Wells,
Lee Willis,
-Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
and
Lloyd Zusman.
* Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
* Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
* Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
+* Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10.
@end menu
These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
(@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
@item
-Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
+Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
(@pxref{Select Methods}).
@item
read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
@item
-Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
-the @file{.emacs} file.
+Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
+cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
@item
You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
@item
-Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
+Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
@item
Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
Marks}).
@item
-A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
+A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
@item
@item
New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
-added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
-@pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
+added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
+@xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
@item
- The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
+The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
group, which is created automatically.
values.
@item
- @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
+@code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
@item
- A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
+A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
@item
- You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
+You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
@kbd{C-u C-c C-c}.
@item
@code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
@item
- @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
+@code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
re-highlighting of the article buffer.
@item
- New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
+New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
@item
- @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
-Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
+@kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
+details.
@item
- @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
-@kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
+@kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
+@kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
@item
- @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
+@code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
control over simplification.
@item
- @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
+@kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
@item
- @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
+@kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
limit.
@item
- @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
+@kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
@item
- @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
+@samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
@item
- The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
+The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
@item
- Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
+Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
@kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
@item
- New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
+New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
text---@kbd{W d}.
@item
- For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
+For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
@code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
@item
- @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
-controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
+@code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
+controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
@item
- A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
+A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
has been added.
@item
- A history of where mails have been split is available.
+A history of where mails have been split is available.
@item
- A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
+A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
@item
- Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
+Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
@code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
@item
- A new function for citing in Message has been
+A new function for citing in Message has been
added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
@item
- @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
+@code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
@item
- A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
+A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
been added.
@item
- A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
+A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
@code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
@item
- The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
+The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
@item
- Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
+Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
@item
- Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
+Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
@end itemize
@lisp
(setq mail-sources
'((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
- :suffix ".in")))
+ :suffix ".in")))
@end lisp
-More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
-Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
+@xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
@item
-Gnus is now a MIME-capable reader. This affects many parts of
+Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
@item
@item
The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
-summary buffers and NOV files.
+summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
@item
@code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
@item
-Gnus can now read IMAP mail via @code{nnimap}.
+Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
+
+@end itemize
+
+@node Oort Gnus
+@subsubsection Oort Gnus
+@cindex Oort Gnus
+
+New features in Gnus 5.10:
+
+@itemize @bullet
+
+@item
+@code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group} can be called interactively,
+using @kbd{G M}.
+
+@item
+In draft groups, @kbd{e} is now bound to @code{gnus-draft-edit-message}.
+Use @kbd{B w} for @code{gnus-summary-edit-article} instead.
+
+@item
+The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
+@xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
+
+@item
+Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
+
+If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
+release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
+this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
+@file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
+read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
+@file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
+later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
+isn't save in general.
+
+@item
+Article Buttons
+
+More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
+pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
+variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
+appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
+
+@item
+Dired integration
+
+@code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} (see @ref{Other modes}) installs key
+bindings in dired buffers to send a file as an attachment, open a file
+using the appropriate mailcap entry, and print a file using the mailcap
+entry.
+
+@item
+Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
+
+@item
+Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
+
+@item
+Picons
+
+The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
+the previous options have been removed or renamed.
+
+Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
+newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
+@xref{Picons}.
+
+@item
+If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
+boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
+
+@item
+Retrieval of charters and control messages
+
+There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
+control messages (@kbd{H C}).
+
+@item
+Delayed articles
+
+You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
+buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
+for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
+
+@item
+If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
+decompressed when activated.
+
+@item
+If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
+the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
+
+@item
+Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
+
+@item
+The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
+article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
+
+@item
+Warn about email replies to news
+
+Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
+the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
+you.
+
+@item
+If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
+non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
+built.
+
+@item
+The new @code{recent} mark @samp{.} indicates newly arrived messages (as
+opposed to old but unread messages).
+
+@item
+The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
+Gcc articles as read.
+
+@item
+The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
+
+@item
+Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
+related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
+
+@item
+The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
+in English. @xref{Article Date}.
+
+@item
+The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
+@xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
+
+@item
+diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
+@code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
+
+@item
+@acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
+
+@acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
+@acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GNUTLS. The old
+@acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} support via (external third party)
+@file{ssl.el} and OpenSSL still works.
+
+@item
+New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
+
+Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
+first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
+@file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, iff you want
+to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
+the second parameter.
+
+@file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
+automatic recognition of XEmacs and GNU Emacs, generates
+@file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
+generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
+process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
+back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
+install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
+complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
+cycle used under Unix systems.
+
+The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} superfluous, so it has
+been removed.
+
+@item
+Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
+
+Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
+Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
+send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
+Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
+and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
+controls this.
+
+@item
+Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
+
+Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
+mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
+though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
+@code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
+citations.
+
+@item
+@code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
+
+If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
+not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
+which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
+what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
+
+This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
+consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
+message cited below.
+
+@item
+The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
+
+@item
+The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
+
+Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
+the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
+enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
+variable in @file{~/.emacs} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
+variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
+parameters, a'la:
+@lisp
+(setq gnus-parameters
+ '(("mail\\..*"
+ (gnus-show-threads nil)
+ (gnus-use-scoring nil))
+ ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
+ (to-group . "\\1"))))
+@end lisp
+
+@item
+Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc) are now iconized for Emacs too.
+
+Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.emacs} to
+disable it.
+
+@item
+Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
+
+Earlier it was generated iff the user configurable email address was
+different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
+algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
+only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
+cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
+see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
+default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
+@code{message-required-news-headers}, and
+@code{message-required-mail-headers}.
+
+@item
+Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
+
+Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
+subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
+M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
+@kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
+appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
+followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
+
+@item
+References and X-Draft-Headers are no longer generated when you start
+composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
+@code{nil}.
+
+@item
+Improved anti-spam features.
+
+Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
+using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
+methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
+for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
+are also new. @xref{Thwarting Email Spam}.
+
+@item
+Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers.
+
+@item
+Face headers handling.
+
+@item
+In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
+and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
+
+@item
+Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
+
+@item
+Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
+
+The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
+be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
+@code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
+@code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
+@code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook}. (called after getting new
+mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
+want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
+you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
+when getting new mail, remove the function.
+
+@item
+Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
+
+To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
+are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
+variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
+contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
+you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
+into two groups) you must change it to return the list
+@code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
+incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
+was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
+was inserted directly.
+
+@item
+@file{~/News/overview/} not used.
+
+As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
+directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
+hierarchy.
+
+@item
+@code{gnus-agent}
+
+The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
+and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
+@code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
+only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
+default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
+enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
+of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
+unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
+@kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
+the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
+@kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
+behaviour of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
+nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
+is not needed any more.
+
+@item
+@code{gnus-summary-line-format}
+
+The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
+%s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
+@code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
+changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
+recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
+groups.
+
+@item
+@file{deuglify.el} (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article})
+
+A new file from Raymond Scholz @email{rscholz@@zonix.de} for deuglifying
+broken Outlook (Express) articles.
+
+@item
+@code{(require 'gnus-load)}
+
+If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
+@code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
+lisp directory into load-path.
+
+File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
+some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
+
+@item
+@code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
+
+A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
+
+@item
+@code{message-insinuate-rmail}
+
+Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
+mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
+compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
+enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
+
+@item
+@code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
+
+The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
+@lisp
+(define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
+ 'bbdb-complete-name)
+@end lisp
+
+@item
+Externalizing and deleting of attachments.
+
+If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
+@code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
+local files as external parts.
+
+The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
+on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
+external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
+@acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
+that support editing.
+
+@item
+@code{gnus-default-charset}
+
+The default value is determined from the
+@code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
+@code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
+@code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
+
+@item
+@code{gnus-posting-styles}
+
+Add a new format of match like
+@lisp
+((header "to" "larsi.*org")
+ (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
+@end lisp
+The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
+@lisp
+(header "to" "larsi.*org"
+ (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
+@end lisp
+
+@item
+@code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
+
+@samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
+added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
+need add those two headers too.
+
+@item
+Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
+
+If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
+in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
+gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
+
+@item
+Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
+composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
+Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
+versions.
+
+@item
+Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
+
+This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
+
+@item
+Gnus supports Maildir groups.
+
+Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
+
+@item
+Printing capabilities are enhanced.
+
+Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
+Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
+printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
+
+@item
+Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
+
+In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
+the valid values.
+
+@item
+Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
+
+This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
+used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
+superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
+you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
+system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
+security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
+will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
+The behaviour can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
+
+@item
+Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
+
+Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
+complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
+buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
+generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
+manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
+
+@item
+Extended format specs.
+
+Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
+@code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
+format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
+@samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
+@code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
+escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
+
+@item
+@kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
+
+It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
+(@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
+out other articles.
+
+@item Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
+
+If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
+s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
+(@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
+result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
+
+@item
+Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
+
+This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
+@code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
+@code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
+
+@item
+The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
+
+This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
+separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
+makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
+sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within e.g. a department. It
+works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
+file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
+nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
+another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
+@file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
+The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
+@code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
+
+@item
+The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
+been renamed to ``Gnus''.
+
+@item
+The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
+renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
+related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
+message, Message Manual}).
+
+@item
+@code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
+@code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
+The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
+instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
+variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
+@lisp
+("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
+@end lisp
+
+@item
+Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
+2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630-2633).
+
+It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
+additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
+Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
+messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
+
+@item
+Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
+
+@item
+@acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
+C-m}.
+
+This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
+@code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
+
+@item
+The default for @code{message-forward-show-mml} changed to symbol @code{best}.
+
+The behaviour for the @code{best} value is to show @acronym{MML} (i.e.,
+convert to @acronym{MIME}) when appropriate. @acronym{MML} will not be
+used when forwarding signed or encrypted messages, as the conversion
+invalidate the digital signature.
@end itemize
@iftex
@item news
@cindex news
This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
-News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
+News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
@item back end
@cindex back end
-Gnus gets fed articles from a number of back ends, both news and mail
-back ends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
-is all done by the back ends.
+Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
+difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
+commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
+messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
+architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
+``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
+@key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
+Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
+``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
+number 4711''.
+
+So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
+end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
+accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
+layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
+``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
+file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
+
+Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
+done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
+access the articles.
+
+However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
+would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
+method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
+confusing.
@item native
@cindex native
@item headers
@cindex headers
A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
-collection of @sc{nov} lines.
+collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
-@item @sc{nov}
-@cindex nov
+@item @acronym{NOV}
+@cindex @acronym{NOV}
When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
@item ephemeral groups
@cindex ephemeral groups
+@cindex temporary groups
Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
group, it'll disappear into the aether.
A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
specified by RFC 1153.
+@item splitting
+@cindex splitting, terminolgy
+@cindex mail sorting
+@cindex mail filtering (splitting)
+The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
+incorrectly called mail filtering.
+
@end table
@node Slow/Expensive Connection
-@subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
+@subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
-Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
+Gnus has to get from the @acronym{NNTP} server.
@table @code
@item gnus-nov-is-evil
This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
-the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
+the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast. Not all @acronym{NNTP} servers
support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
@end table
If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
hidden initially.
+
@item gnus-updated-mode-lines
If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
lines, which might save some time.
@item
Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
-like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
-on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
-flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
+like @samp{T-gnus 6.17.* (based on Gnus v5.10.*; for SEMI 1.1*, FLIM
+1.1*)} you have the right files loaded. Otherwise you have some old
+@file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
@item
-Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
-how-to.
+Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
+@acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
@item
@vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
-If you just need help, you are better off asking on
-@samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
+@cindex edebug
+If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
+in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
+edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
+(@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
+Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
+you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
+step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
+the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
+then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
+return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
+placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
+evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
+@kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
+@kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
+
+@cindex elp
+@cindex profile
+@cindex slow
+Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
+manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
+can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
+slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
+helps isolating the real problem areas).
+
+A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is
+(or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
+there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
+part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x
+elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
+RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
+@kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
+time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
+longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
+output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
+profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
+elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
+complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
+work perfectly.
@cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
@cindex ding mailing list
-You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
-Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
+If you just need help, you are better off asking on
+@samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
+@email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
+@email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
@page
@findex gnus-group-foreign-p
Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
-@item group-group-find-parameter
-@findex group-group-find-parameter
+@item gnus-group-find-parameter
+@findex gnus-group-find-parameter
Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
@node Back End Interface
@subsection Back End Interface
-Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
+Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
--- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
+---they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
more.
Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
-possible for later articles to `re-use' older article numbers without
+possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
-The previous paragraph already mentions all the `hard' restrictions that
+The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
-the `no-reuse' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
+the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
of numbers as long as possible.
+Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
+Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
+@file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
+
In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
@code{nnchoke}.
@cindex @code{nnchoke}
@menu
-* Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
-* Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
+* Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
+* Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
* Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
* Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
* Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
-The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
+The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
-of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
+of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
-If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
-headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
+If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
+headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
header = <text> eol
@end example
+@cindex BNF
+(The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
+
If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
@dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
separated by tabs.
@example
nov-buffer = *nov-line
-nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
+nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
field = <text except TAB>
@end example
If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
physical server is alive, then this function should return a
-non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
+non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
There should be no data returned.
considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
-problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
+problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
+articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
+highest as 0.
@example
group-status = [ error / info ] eol
@end example
On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
-that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
+that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
+contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
+and the highest as 0.
@example
active-file = *active-line
@item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
-alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all the
-information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
+alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
+the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
-should return the (altered) group info.
+should return a non-@code{nil} value.
There should be no result data from this function.
Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
-@code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
+@file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
propagate the mark information to the server.
-ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
+@var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
@example
(RANGE ACTION MARK)
@end example
-RANGE is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. ACTION is
-@code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove marks
-(preserving all marks not mentioned). MARK is a list of marks; where
-each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read},
-@code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
+@var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
+@var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
+marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
+marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
+@code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
@code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
@code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
possible, not limit itself to these.
This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
-another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query the
-POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
-to be heeded---if the back end decides that it is too much work just
-scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
-would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
+another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
+the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
+@var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
+it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
+total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
+local if that's practical.
There should be no result data from this function.
the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
in the active buffer format.
-It is okay for this function to return `too many' groups; some back ends
+It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
-many groups, so nnml and the like are probably safe. But for back ends
-like nntp, where the groups have been created by the server, it is quite
-likely that there can be many groups.
+many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
+back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
+server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
@item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
There should be no result data returned.
-@item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
-&optional LAST)
+@item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
@var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
+The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
+article for that group.
+
There should be no data returned.
This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
have.
-@example
+@lisp
(nnoo-define-basics nndir)
-@end example
+@end lisp
@item deffoo
This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
functions from the parent back ends.
-@example
+@lisp
(nnoo-map-functions nndir
(nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
(nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
-@end example
+@end lisp
This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
haven't already been defined.
-@example
+@lisp
(nnoo-import nndir
(nnmh
nnmh-request-list
nnmh-request-newgroups)
(nnml))
-@end example
+@end lisp
This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
@lisp
-;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
-;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
+;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
-;;; Code:
+;;; @r{Code:}
(require 'nnheader)
(require 'nnmh)
(defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
(defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
-;;; Interface functions.
+;;; @r{Interface functions.}
(nnoo-define-basics nndir)
@subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
-back ends is the heavy dependence by the mail back ends on common
-functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
-@code{nnml-request-scan}:
+back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
+common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
+definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
@lisp
(deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
@subsection Score File Syntax
Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
-mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
+mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
Here's a typical score file:
@subsection Headers
Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
-corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
-almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
+corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
+almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
@dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
-you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
+you can go and fill your @file{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
how Gnus works.
-If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
+If you have put that thing in your @file{.emacs} file, it will be read
and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
@kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
@c mode: texinfo
@c coding: iso-8859-1
@c End:
-% LocalWords: BNF mucho detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
-% LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
-% LocalWords: nnmbox newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
-% LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
-% LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref
projects / elisp / gnus.git- / blobdiff