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9 @c * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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265 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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274 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
276 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
277 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
278 are preserved on all copies.
280 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
281 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
282 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
283 permission notice identical to this one.
285 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
286 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
295 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
297 Copyright (C) 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
299 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
300 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
301 are preserved on all copies.
304 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
305 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
306 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
307 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
310 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
311 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
312 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
313 permission notice identical to this one.
315 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
316 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
324 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
327 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
328 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
330 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
331 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
332 are preserved on all copies.
334 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
335 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
336 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
337 permission notice identical to this one.
339 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
340 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
349 @top The Gnus Newsreader
353 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
354 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
355 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
358 This manual corresponds to Gnus 5.8.3.
369 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
370 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
372 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
373 being accused of plagiarism:
375 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
376 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
377 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
378 can even read news with it!
380 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
381 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
382 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
383 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
384 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
391 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
392 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
393 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
394 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
395 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
396 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
397 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
398 * Various:: General purpose settings.
399 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
400 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
401 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
402 * Key Index:: Key Index.
406 @chapter Starting Gnus
411 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
412 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
415 @findex gnus-other-frame
416 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
417 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
418 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
420 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
421 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
422 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
424 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
425 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
428 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
429 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
430 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
431 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
432 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
433 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
434 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
435 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
436 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
437 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
438 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
442 @node Finding the News
443 @section Finding the News
446 @vindex gnus-select-method
448 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
449 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
450 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
451 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
454 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
455 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
458 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
461 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
464 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
467 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
468 certainly be much faster.
470 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
472 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
473 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
474 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
475 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
476 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
477 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
479 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
480 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
481 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
482 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
484 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
485 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
486 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
487 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
488 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
489 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
490 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
491 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
492 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
495 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
497 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
498 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
499 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
500 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
501 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
502 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
504 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
506 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
507 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
508 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
509 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
510 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
511 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
514 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
515 would typically set this variable to
518 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
523 @section The First Time
524 @cindex first time usage
526 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
527 be subscribed by default.
529 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
530 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
531 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
532 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
535 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
536 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
537 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
539 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
540 help you with most common problems.
542 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
543 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
547 @node The Server is Down
548 @section The Server is Down
549 @cindex server errors
551 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
552 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
553 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
555 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
556 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
557 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
558 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
559 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
560 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
561 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
563 @findex gnus-no-server
564 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
566 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
567 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
568 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
569 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
570 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
571 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
576 @section Slave Gnusae
579 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
580 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
581 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
582 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
584 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
587 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
588 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
589 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
590 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
591 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
592 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
593 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
595 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
596 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
597 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
598 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
599 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
600 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
601 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
602 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
604 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
605 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
608 @node Fetching a Group
609 @section Fetching a Group
610 @cindex fetching a group
612 @findex gnus-fetch-group
613 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
614 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
615 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
616 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
617 It takes the group name as a parameter.
625 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
626 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
627 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
628 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
629 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
630 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
631 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
632 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the backends for new groups even
633 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
636 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
637 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
638 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
642 @node Checking New Groups
643 @subsection Checking New Groups
645 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
646 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
647 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
648 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
649 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
650 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
651 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
652 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
653 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
654 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
656 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
657 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
658 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
659 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
660 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
661 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
662 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
663 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
664 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
665 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
666 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
668 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
669 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
670 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
671 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
672 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
673 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
676 @node Subscription Methods
677 @subsection Subscription Methods
679 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
680 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
681 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
683 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
684 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
686 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
690 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
691 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
692 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
693 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
694 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
696 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
697 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
698 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
699 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
701 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
702 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
703 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
705 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
706 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
707 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
708 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
709 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
710 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
711 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
712 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
713 up. Or something like that.
715 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
716 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
717 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
718 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
719 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
721 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
722 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
725 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
726 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
727 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
728 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
729 topic parameter that looks like
735 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
738 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
743 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
744 A closely related variable is
745 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
746 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
747 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
748 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
751 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
752 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
753 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
754 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
757 @node Filtering New Groups
758 @subsection Filtering New Groups
760 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
761 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
762 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
765 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
768 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
769 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
770 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
771 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
772 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
773 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
774 subscribing these groups.
775 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
776 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
778 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
779 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
780 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
781 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
782 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
783 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
784 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
785 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
787 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
788 Yet another variable that meddles here is
789 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
790 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
791 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
792 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
793 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
794 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
795 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
796 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
798 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
799 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
802 @node Changing Servers
803 @section Changing Servers
804 @cindex changing servers
806 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
807 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
808 very flaky and you want to use another.
810 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
811 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
815 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
816 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
817 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
818 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
821 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
822 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
823 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
824 functions more than absolutely necessary.
826 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
827 @findex gnus-change-server
828 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
829 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
830 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
831 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
832 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
834 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
835 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
836 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
837 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
838 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
840 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
841 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
842 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
843 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
844 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
845 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
847 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
848 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
849 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
853 @section Startup Files
854 @cindex startup files
859 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
860 information is traditionally stored in this file.
862 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
863 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
864 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
865 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
866 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
867 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
868 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
870 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
871 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
872 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
873 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
874 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
875 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
877 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
878 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
879 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
880 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
881 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
882 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
883 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
884 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
885 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
886 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
888 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
889 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
890 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
891 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
892 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
893 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
894 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
895 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
896 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
897 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
898 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
899 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
901 @vindex gnus-startup-file
902 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
903 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
904 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
906 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
907 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
908 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
909 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
910 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
911 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
912 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
913 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
914 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
915 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
918 (defun turn-off-backup ()
919 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
921 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
922 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
925 @vindex gnus-init-file
926 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
927 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
928 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
929 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
930 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
931 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
932 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
933 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
934 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
943 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
944 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
945 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
946 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
947 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
950 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
951 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
954 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
955 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
956 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
958 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
959 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
960 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
961 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
962 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
963 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
965 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
966 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
967 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
970 @node The Active File
971 @section The Active File
973 @cindex ignored groups
975 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
976 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
977 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
979 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
980 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
981 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
982 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
983 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
984 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
985 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
988 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
989 @c if you set it to anything else.
991 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
993 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
994 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
995 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
997 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
998 you actually subscribe to.
1000 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1001 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1002 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1003 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1005 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1006 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1007 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1008 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1009 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1010 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1012 Some news servers (Leafnode and old versions of INN, for instance) do
1013 not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these servers, @code{nil}
1014 is probably the most efficient value for this variable.
1016 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1017 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1018 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1019 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1020 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1021 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1023 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1024 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1026 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1027 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1029 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1030 secondary select methods.
1033 @node Startup Variables
1034 @section Startup Variables
1038 @item gnus-load-hook
1039 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1040 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1041 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1042 times you start Gnus.
1044 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1045 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1046 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1048 @item gnus-startup-hook
1049 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1050 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1052 @item gnus-started-hook
1053 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1054 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1057 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1058 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1059 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1060 generating the group buffer.
1062 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1063 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1064 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1065 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1066 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1067 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1068 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1069 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1071 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1072 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1073 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1074 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1075 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1076 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1078 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1079 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1080 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1082 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1083 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1084 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1086 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1087 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1088 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1089 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1094 @node The Group Buffer
1095 @chapter The Group Buffer
1096 @cindex group buffer
1098 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1099 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1100 long as Gnus is active.
1104 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1105 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1106 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1107 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1108 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1109 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1110 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1111 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1117 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1118 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1119 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1120 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1121 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1122 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1123 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1124 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1125 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1126 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1127 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1128 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1129 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1130 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1131 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1132 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1133 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1137 @node Group Buffer Format
1138 @section Group Buffer Format
1141 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1142 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1143 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1147 @node Group Line Specification
1148 @subsection Group Line Specification
1149 @cindex group buffer format
1151 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1152 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1154 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1157 25: news.announce.newusers
1158 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1163 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1164 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1165 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1166 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1168 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1169 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1170 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1171 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1172 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1173 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1175 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1177 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1178 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1179 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1180 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1183 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1184 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1185 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1187 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1192 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1195 Whether the group is subscribed.
1198 Level of subscribedness.
1201 Number of unread articles.
1204 Number of dormant articles.
1207 Number of ticked articles.
1210 Number of read articles.
1213 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1214 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1217 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1220 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1229 Newsgroup description.
1232 @samp{m} if moderated.
1235 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1244 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1248 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1251 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1252 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1253 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1254 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1255 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1258 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1260 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1264 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1268 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1269 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1270 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1271 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1272 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1273 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1278 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1279 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1280 group, or a bogus native group.
1283 @node Group Modeline Specification
1284 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1285 @cindex group modeline
1287 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1288 The mode line can be changed by setting
1289 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1290 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1294 The native news server.
1296 The native select method.
1300 @node Group Highlighting
1301 @subsection Group Highlighting
1302 @cindex highlighting
1303 @cindex group highlighting
1305 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1306 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1307 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1308 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1309 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1311 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1315 (cond (window-system
1316 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1317 (defface my-group-face-1
1318 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1319 (defface my-group-face-2
1320 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1321 (defface my-group-face-3
1322 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1323 (defface my-group-face-4
1324 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1325 (defface my-group-face-5
1326 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1328 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1329 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1330 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1331 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1332 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1333 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1336 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1338 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1345 The number of unread articles in the group.
1349 Whether the group is a mail group.
1351 The level of the group.
1353 The score of the group.
1355 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1357 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1358 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1360 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1361 topic being inserted.
1364 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1365 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1366 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1368 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1369 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1370 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1371 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1372 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1375 @node Group Maneuvering
1376 @section Group Maneuvering
1377 @cindex group movement
1379 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1380 expected, hopefully.
1386 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1387 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1388 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1394 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1395 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1396 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1400 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1401 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1405 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1406 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1410 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1411 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1412 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1416 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1417 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1418 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1421 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1427 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1428 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1429 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1434 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1435 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1436 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1440 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1441 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1442 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1445 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1446 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1447 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1448 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1452 @node Selecting a Group
1453 @section Selecting a Group
1454 @cindex group selection
1459 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1460 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1461 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1462 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1463 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1464 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1465 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1466 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1467 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1468 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
1472 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1473 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1474 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1475 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1476 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1480 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1481 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1482 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1483 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1484 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1485 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1486 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1487 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1488 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1489 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1492 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1493 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1494 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1495 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1496 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1499 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1500 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1501 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1502 doing any processing of its contents
1503 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1504 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1505 manner will have no permanent effects.
1509 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1510 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1511 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1512 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1513 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1514 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1515 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1516 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1519 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1520 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1521 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1522 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1527 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1528 full summary buffer.
1531 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1534 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
1539 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
1540 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
1541 Useful functions include:
1544 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
1545 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
1546 don't select the article.
1548 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
1549 Select the first unread article.
1551 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
1552 Select the highest-scored unread article.
1556 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1557 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1558 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1562 @node Subscription Commands
1563 @section Subscription Commands
1564 @cindex subscription
1572 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1573 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
1574 Toggle subscription to the current group
1575 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1581 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1582 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1583 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1584 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1590 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1591 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
1592 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1598 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1599 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1602 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1603 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1604 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1605 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1606 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1612 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1613 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1617 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1618 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1621 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1622 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1623 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1624 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1625 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1626 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1627 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1628 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1629 @file{.newsrc} file.
1633 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1643 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1644 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1645 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
1646 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1647 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1648 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
1653 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1654 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1655 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1659 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1660 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1661 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1663 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1664 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1665 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1666 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1667 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1668 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1675 @section Group Levels
1679 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1680 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1681 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1682 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1683 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1685 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1691 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1692 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1693 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1694 prompted for a level.
1697 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1698 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1699 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1700 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1701 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
1702 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1703 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1704 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1705 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1706 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
1707 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
1708 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
1709 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
1710 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
1711 reasons of efficiency.
1713 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1714 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1716 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1717 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1718 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1720 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1721 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1722 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1723 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1724 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1725 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1726 relevant valid ranges.
1728 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1729 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1730 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
1731 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1732 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1733 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1736 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1737 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1738 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1741 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1742 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1743 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1744 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1747 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1748 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1749 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1750 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1752 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1753 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
1754 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
1755 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
1756 to 5. The default is 6.
1760 @section Group Score
1765 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1766 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1767 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1770 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
1771 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
1772 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
1773 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
1774 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
1775 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
1776 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
1777 least significant part.))
1779 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1780 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1781 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1782 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1783 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1784 action after each summary exit, you can add
1785 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1786 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1787 slow things down somewhat.
1790 @node Marking Groups
1791 @section Marking Groups
1792 @cindex marking groups
1794 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1795 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1796 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1797 bidding on those groups.
1799 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1800 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1801 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1809 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1810 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1816 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1817 Remove the mark from the current group
1818 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1822 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1823 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1827 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1828 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1832 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1833 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1837 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1838 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1839 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1842 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1844 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1845 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1846 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1847 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1848 the command to be executed.
1851 @node Foreign Groups
1852 @section Foreign Groups
1853 @cindex foreign groups
1855 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1856 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1857 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1858 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1865 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1866 @cindex making groups
1867 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1868 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1869 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1873 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1874 @cindex renaming groups
1875 Rename the current group to something else
1876 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
1877 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1883 @findex gnus-group-customize
1884 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1888 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1889 @cindex renaming groups
1890 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1891 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1895 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1896 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1897 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1901 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1902 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1903 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1907 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1909 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1910 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1915 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1916 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1920 @cindex (ding) archive
1921 @cindex archive group
1922 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1923 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1924 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1925 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1926 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1927 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1928 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1932 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1934 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1935 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1936 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1937 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1941 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1943 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
1944 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1945 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1949 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1950 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1952 Make a group based on some file or other
1953 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1954 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1955 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1956 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
1957 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{nsmail} and @code{forward}.
1958 If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
1959 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
1963 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
1964 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
1965 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
1966 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
1970 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1975 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1976 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1977 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1978 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
1979 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1980 @xref{Web Searches}.
1982 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
1983 to a particular group by using a match string like
1984 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
1987 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1988 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1989 This function will delete the current group
1990 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1991 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1992 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1993 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
1994 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
1998 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1999 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2000 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2004 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2005 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2006 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2009 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2012 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2013 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2014 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2015 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2016 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2017 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2021 @node Group Parameters
2022 @section Group Parameters
2023 @cindex group parameters
2025 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2026 Here's an example group parameter list:
2029 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2033 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2034 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2035 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2036 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2038 The following group parameters can be used:
2043 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2046 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2049 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2050 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2051 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2052 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2053 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2055 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2056 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2057 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2058 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2059 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2060 list address instead.
2064 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
2067 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2070 It is totally ignored
2071 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2072 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2074 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2075 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2076 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2077 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2078 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2080 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2081 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2082 sending the message.
2086 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2087 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2088 of whether it has any unread articles.
2090 @item broken-reply-to
2091 @cindex broken-reply-to
2092 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2093 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2094 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2095 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2096 broken behavior. So there!
2100 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2101 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2105 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2106 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2107 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2112 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2113 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2114 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2115 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2116 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2117 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2118 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2122 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2123 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2124 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2127 @cindex total-expire
2128 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2129 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2130 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2131 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2136 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2137 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2138 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2139 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2140 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2141 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2144 @cindex score file group parameter
2145 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2146 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2147 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2150 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2151 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2152 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2153 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2156 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2157 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2158 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2159 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2162 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2163 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2167 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2170 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2175 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2176 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2177 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2181 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2182 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2183 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2185 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2186 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2187 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2188 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2189 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2190 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2191 @code{eval}ed there.
2193 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2194 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2195 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2196 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2197 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2200 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2201 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2202 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2203 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2204 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2206 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2207 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2208 like this in the group parameters:
2213 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2218 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2219 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2223 @node Listing Groups
2224 @section Listing Groups
2225 @cindex group listing
2227 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2235 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2236 List all groups that have unread articles
2237 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2238 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2239 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2240 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2247 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2248 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2249 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2250 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2251 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2252 unsubscribed groups).
2256 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2257 List all unread groups on a specific level
2258 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2259 with no unread articles.
2263 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2264 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2265 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2266 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2271 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2272 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2276 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2277 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2278 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2282 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2283 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2287 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2288 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2289 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2290 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2291 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2292 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2293 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2294 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2298 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2299 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2300 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2304 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2305 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2306 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2310 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2311 @cindex visible group parameter
2312 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2313 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2314 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2315 get the same effect.
2317 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2318 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2319 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2320 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2321 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2324 @node Sorting Groups
2325 @section Sorting Groups
2326 @cindex sorting groups
2328 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2329 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2330 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2331 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2332 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2333 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2338 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2339 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2340 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2342 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2343 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2344 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2346 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2347 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2348 Sort by group level.
2350 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2351 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2352 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2354 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2355 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2356 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2357 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2359 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2360 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2361 Sort by number of unread articles.
2363 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2364 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2365 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2370 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2371 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2375 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2376 some sorting criteria:
2380 @kindex G S a (Group)
2381 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2382 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2383 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2386 @kindex G S u (Group)
2387 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2388 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2389 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2392 @kindex G S l (Group)
2393 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2394 Sort the group buffer by group level
2395 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2398 @kindex G S v (Group)
2399 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2400 Sort the group buffer by group score
2401 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2404 @kindex G S r (Group)
2405 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2406 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2407 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2410 @kindex G S m (Group)
2411 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2412 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2413 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2417 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
2418 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2420 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2421 commands will sort in reverse order.
2423 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2427 @kindex G P a (Group)
2428 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2429 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2430 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2433 @kindex G P u (Group)
2434 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2435 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2436 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2439 @kindex G P l (Group)
2440 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2441 Sort the groups by group level
2442 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2445 @kindex G P v (Group)
2446 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2447 Sort the groups by group score
2448 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2451 @kindex G P r (Group)
2452 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2453 Sort the groups by group rank
2454 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2457 @kindex G P m (Group)
2458 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2459 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
2460 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2466 @node Group Maintenance
2467 @section Group Maintenance
2468 @cindex bogus groups
2473 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2474 Find bogus groups and delete them
2475 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2479 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2480 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2481 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2482 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2483 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2487 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2488 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2489 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2490 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2493 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2494 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2495 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2496 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2501 @node Browse Foreign Server
2502 @section Browse Foreign Server
2503 @cindex foreign servers
2504 @cindex browsing servers
2509 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2510 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2511 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2512 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2515 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2516 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2517 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2518 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2520 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2525 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2526 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2530 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2531 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2534 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2535 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2536 Enter the current group and display the first article
2537 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2540 @kindex RET (Browse)
2541 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2542 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2546 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2547 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2548 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2554 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2555 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2559 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2560 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2561 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2566 @section Exiting Gnus
2567 @cindex exiting Gnus
2569 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2574 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2575 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2576 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2577 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2581 @findex gnus-group-exit
2582 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
2583 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2587 @findex gnus-group-quit
2588 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2589 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2592 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2593 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2594 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2595 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2596 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2601 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2602 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2603 trying to customize meta-variables.
2608 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2609 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2610 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2616 @section Group Topics
2619 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2620 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2621 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2622 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2623 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2624 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2628 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
2629 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
2640 2: alt.religion.emacs
2643 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2645 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2646 13: comp.sources.unix
2649 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2651 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2652 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2653 is a toggling command.)
2655 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2656 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2657 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2658 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2661 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2662 the hook for the group mode:
2665 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2669 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2670 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2671 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2672 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2673 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2677 @node Topic Variables
2678 @subsection Topic Variables
2679 @cindex topic variables
2681 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2682 really neat, I think.
2684 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2685 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2686 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2699 Number of groups in the topic.
2701 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2703 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2706 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2707 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2708 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2711 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2712 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2714 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2715 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2716 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2719 @node Topic Commands
2720 @subsection Topic Commands
2721 @cindex topic commands
2723 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2724 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2725 definitions slightly.
2731 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2732 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2733 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2737 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2738 Move the current group to some other topic
2739 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2740 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2744 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
2745 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
2749 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2750 Copy the current group to some other topic
2751 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2752 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2756 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2757 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2758 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
2759 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
2760 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
2761 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
2762 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
2765 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2766 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2770 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2771 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2772 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2776 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2777 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2778 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2782 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
2783 Toggle hiding empty topics
2784 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
2788 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2789 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2790 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2793 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2794 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2795 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2796 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2800 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2802 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2803 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2804 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2805 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2808 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
2809 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
2810 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2811 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
2815 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2817 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2818 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2819 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2820 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2821 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2822 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2825 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
2826 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
2827 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the expiry
2828 process (if any) (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}).
2832 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2833 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2834 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2838 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2839 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2840 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2845 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2846 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2849 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2850 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2851 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2855 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2856 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2857 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2861 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2862 @cindex group parameters
2863 @cindex topic parameters
2865 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2866 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2872 @subsection Topic Sorting
2873 @cindex topic sorting
2875 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2881 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2882 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2883 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2884 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2887 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2888 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2889 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2890 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2893 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2894 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2895 Sort the current topic by group level
2896 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2899 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2900 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2901 Sort the current topic by group score
2902 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2905 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2906 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2907 Sort the current topic by group rank
2908 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2911 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2912 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2913 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2914 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2918 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
2921 @node Topic Topology
2922 @subsection Topic Topology
2923 @cindex topic topology
2926 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2932 2: alt.religion.emacs
2935 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2937 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2938 13: comp.sources.unix
2941 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2942 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2943 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2948 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2949 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2953 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2954 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2955 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2956 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2957 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2958 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2960 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2961 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2962 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2965 @node Topic Parameters
2966 @subsection Topic Parameters
2967 @cindex topic parameters
2969 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2970 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
2971 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2973 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
2978 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
2979 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
2980 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
2985 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2986 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2987 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2988 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2994 2: alt.religion.emacs
2998 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3000 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3001 13: comp.sources.unix
3005 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3006 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3007 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3008 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3009 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3010 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3012 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3013 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3014 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3015 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3016 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3018 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3019 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3020 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3021 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3022 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3023 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3024 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3025 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3028 @node Misc Group Stuff
3029 @section Misc Group Stuff
3032 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3033 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3034 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3035 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3042 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3043 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3044 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
3048 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3049 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3050 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3054 @findex gnus-group-mail
3055 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3059 Variables for the group buffer:
3063 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3064 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3065 is called after the group buffer has been
3068 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3069 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3070 is called after the group buffer is
3071 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3074 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3075 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3076 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3077 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3079 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3080 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3081 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3082 whether they are empty or not.
3087 @node Scanning New Messages
3088 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3089 @cindex new messages
3090 @cindex scanning new news
3096 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3097 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3098 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3099 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3100 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3101 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3106 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3107 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3108 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3109 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3110 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3111 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3112 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3114 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3115 @cindex activating groups
3117 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3118 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3123 @findex gnus-group-restart
3124 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3125 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3126 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
3130 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3131 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3133 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3134 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3138 @node Group Information
3139 @subsection Group Information
3140 @cindex group information
3141 @cindex information on groups
3148 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3149 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3152 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3153 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3154 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3155 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3156 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3157 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3158 for fetching the file.
3160 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3161 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3165 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3167 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3168 @cindex describing groups
3169 @cindex group description
3170 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3171 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3172 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3176 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3177 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3178 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3185 @findex gnus-version
3186 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3190 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3191 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3194 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3197 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3198 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3202 @node Group Timestamp
3203 @subsection Group Timestamp
3205 @cindex group timestamps
3207 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
3208 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3209 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3212 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3215 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3217 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3218 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3221 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3222 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3225 This will result in lines looking like:
3228 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3229 0: custom 19961002T012713
3232 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3233 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3237 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3238 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3243 @subsection File Commands
3244 @cindex file commands
3250 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3251 @vindex gnus-init-file
3252 @cindex reading init file
3253 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3254 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3258 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3259 @cindex saving .newsrc
3260 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3261 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3262 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3265 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3266 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3267 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3272 @node The Summary Buffer
3273 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3274 @cindex summary buffer
3276 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3277 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3279 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3280 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3282 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3285 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3286 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3287 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3288 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3289 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3290 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3291 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3292 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3293 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3294 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3295 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3296 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3297 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3298 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3299 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3300 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3301 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3302 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
3303 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3304 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3305 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3306 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3307 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3308 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3309 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3310 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3311 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3312 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3316 @node Summary Buffer Format
3317 @section Summary Buffer Format
3318 @cindex summary buffer format
3322 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3323 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3324 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3330 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3331 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3332 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3333 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3336 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3337 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3338 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3339 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3340 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3341 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3342 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3343 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3344 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3345 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3346 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
3349 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3350 'mail-extract-address-components)
3353 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3354 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3355 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3356 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3359 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3360 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3362 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3363 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3364 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3365 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3366 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3368 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3370 The following format specification characters are understood:
3376 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
3377 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
3379 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3380 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3381 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3383 Full @code{From} header.
3385 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3387 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3388 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3390 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3391 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3392 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3393 may be more thorough.
3395 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3398 Number of lines in the article.
3400 Number of characters in the article.
3402 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3404 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3405 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3407 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3408 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3410 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3411 for adopted articles.
3413 One space for each thread level.
3415 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3420 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3421 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3425 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3427 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3428 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3429 default level. If the difference between
3430 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3431 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3439 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3441 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3447 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3448 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3450 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3451 article has any children.
3457 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3458 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3459 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3460 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3461 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3462 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3465 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3466 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
3467 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3468 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3469 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3470 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3472 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3473 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3475 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
3478 @node To From Newsgroups
3479 @subsection To From Newsgroups
3483 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
3484 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
3485 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
3486 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
3487 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
3491 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
3492 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
3493 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
3497 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3498 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
3501 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
3502 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
3505 @findex gnus-extra-header
3506 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
3507 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
3508 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
3511 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
3515 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3516 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
3517 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
3518 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
3519 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
3520 headers are used instead.
3524 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
3525 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
3526 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
3527 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
3530 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3531 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
3532 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
3533 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
3535 In summary, you'd typically do something like the following:
3538 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3540 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
3541 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
3542 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
3543 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3547 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
3548 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
3555 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
3556 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
3559 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3560 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3562 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3563 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
3564 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
3565 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3567 Here are the elements you can play with:
3573 Unprefixed group name.
3575 Current article number.
3577 Current article score.
3581 Number of unread articles in this group.
3583 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
3586 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3587 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3588 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3589 and no unselected ones.
3591 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3592 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3594 Subject of the current article.
3596 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
3598 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
3600 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3602 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3604 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3606 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3610 @node Summary Highlighting
3611 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3615 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3616 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3617 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3618 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3619 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3621 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3622 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3623 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3624 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3626 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3627 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3628 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
3629 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3631 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3632 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3633 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3634 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
3635 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
3636 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
3639 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3640 ((> score default) . bold))
3642 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3643 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
3647 @node Summary Maneuvering
3648 @section Summary Maneuvering
3649 @cindex summary movement
3651 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3652 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3654 None of these commands select articles.
3659 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3660 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3661 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3662 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3663 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3667 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3668 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3669 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3670 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3671 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3676 @kindex G j (Summary)
3677 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3678 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
3679 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3682 @kindex G g (Summary)
3683 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3684 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
3685 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3688 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3689 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3690 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3691 to the group buffer.
3693 Variables related to summary movement:
3697 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3698 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3699 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3700 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
3701 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3702 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3703 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
3704 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3705 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
3706 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3707 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3708 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3709 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3710 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3712 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3713 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3714 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3715 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3716 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3717 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
3718 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
3720 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3722 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3723 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3724 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3725 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3726 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3728 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3729 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3730 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3731 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3732 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3733 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3734 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3735 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3738 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
3739 the given number of lines from the top.
3744 @node Choosing Articles
3745 @section Choosing Articles
3746 @cindex selecting articles
3749 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3750 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3754 @node Choosing Commands
3755 @subsection Choosing Commands
3757 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3758 and they all select and display an article.
3762 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3763 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3764 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3765 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3770 @kindex G n (Summary)
3771 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3772 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
3773 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3778 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3779 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
3780 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3785 @kindex G N (Summary)
3786 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3787 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3792 @kindex G P (Summary)
3793 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3794 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3797 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3798 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3799 Go to the next article with the same subject
3800 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3803 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3804 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3805 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3806 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3810 @kindex G f (Summary)
3812 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3813 Go to the first unread article
3814 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3818 @kindex G b (Summary)
3820 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3821 Go to the article with the highest score
3822 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3827 @kindex G l (Summary)
3828 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3829 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3832 @kindex G o (Summary)
3833 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3835 @cindex article history
3836 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3837 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3838 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3839 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
3840 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
3841 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
3845 @node Choosing Variables
3846 @subsection Choosing Variables
3848 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3851 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3852 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3853 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3854 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3855 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3856 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3858 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3859 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3860 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3861 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3863 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3864 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3865 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3866 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3867 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3868 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3869 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3870 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3871 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3872 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3873 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3874 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3875 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3876 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3881 @node Paging the Article
3882 @section Scrolling the Article
3883 @cindex article scrolling
3888 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3889 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3890 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3891 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3892 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3895 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3896 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3897 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3900 @kindex RET (Summary)
3901 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3902 Scroll the current article one line forward
3903 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3906 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
3907 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
3908 Scroll the current article one line backward
3909 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
3913 @kindex A g (Summary)
3915 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3916 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
3917 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3918 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3919 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3920 the way it came from the server.
3922 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
3923 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
3924 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
3927 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
3932 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
3937 @kindex A < (Summary)
3938 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3939 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3940 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3945 @kindex A > (Summary)
3946 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3947 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3951 @kindex A s (Summary)
3953 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3954 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3955 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3959 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
3960 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
3965 @node Reply Followup and Post
3966 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3969 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3970 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3971 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
3972 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
3976 @node Summary Mail Commands
3977 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3979 @cindex composing mail
3981 Commands for composing a mail message:
3987 @kindex S r (Summary)
3989 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3990 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
3991 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
3992 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3993 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3998 @kindex S R (Summary)
3999 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
4000 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
4001 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
4002 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
4003 command uses the process/prefix convention.
4006 @kindex S w (Summary)
4007 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
4008 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
4009 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
4010 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4011 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
4014 @kindex S W (Summary)
4015 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4016 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
4017 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4018 the process/prefix convention.
4021 @kindex S o m (Summary)
4022 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
4023 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
4024 Forward the current article to some other person
4025 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4026 headers of the forwarded article.
4031 @kindex S m (Summary)
4032 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
4033 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
4034 Send a mail to some other person
4035 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
4038 @kindex S D b (Summary)
4039 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
4040 @cindex bouncing mail
4041 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
4042 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
4043 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
4044 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
4045 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
4046 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
4047 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
4048 very well fail, though.
4051 @kindex S D r (Summary)
4052 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
4053 Not to be confused with the previous command,
4054 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
4055 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
4056 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
4057 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
4058 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
4059 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4060 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4062 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4063 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4064 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4065 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4066 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4068 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4069 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4072 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4073 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4074 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4075 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4076 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4079 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4080 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4081 @cindex crossposting
4082 @cindex excessive crossposting
4083 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4084 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4086 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4087 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4088 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4089 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4090 command understands the process/prefix convention
4091 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4095 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4098 @node Summary Post Commands
4099 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4101 @cindex composing news
4103 Commands for posting a news article:
4109 @kindex S p (Summary)
4110 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4111 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4112 Post an article to the current group
4113 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4118 @kindex S f (Summary)
4119 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4120 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4121 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4125 @kindex S F (Summary)
4127 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4128 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4129 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4130 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4131 process/prefix convention.
4134 @kindex S n (Summary)
4135 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4136 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4137 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4140 @kindex S N (Summary)
4141 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4142 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4143 message through mail and include the original message
4144 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4145 the process/prefix convention.
4148 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4149 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4150 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4151 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4152 headers of the forwarded article.
4155 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4156 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4158 @cindex making digests
4159 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4160 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4161 process/prefix convention.
4164 @kindex S u (Summary)
4165 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4166 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4167 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4168 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4171 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4174 @node Summary Message Commands
4175 @subsection Summary Message Commands
4179 @kindex S y (Summary)
4180 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
4181 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
4182 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
4183 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
4184 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4189 @node Canceling and Superseding
4190 @subsection Canceling Articles
4191 @cindex canceling articles
4192 @cindex superseding articles
4194 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4195 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4197 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4199 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4201 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4202 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4203 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4204 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4205 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4206 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4208 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4209 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4212 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4213 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4214 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4216 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4217 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4218 your original article.
4220 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4222 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4223 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4224 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4227 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4228 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4229 have posted almost the same article twice.
4231 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4232 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4233 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4234 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4235 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4236 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4237 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4238 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4239 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4240 canceled/superseded.
4242 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4245 @node Marking Articles
4246 @section Marking Articles
4247 @cindex article marking
4248 @cindex article ticking
4251 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4253 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4254 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4255 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4257 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4260 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4261 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4262 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4266 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4270 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4271 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
4272 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4276 @node Unread Articles
4277 @subsection Unread Articles
4279 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4284 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4285 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4287 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4288 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4289 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4290 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4291 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4295 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4296 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4298 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4299 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4300 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4303 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4304 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4306 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4311 @subsection Read Articles
4312 @cindex expirable mark
4314 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4319 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4320 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4321 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4324 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4325 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4328 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4329 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4330 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4333 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4334 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4337 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4338 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4341 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4342 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4345 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4346 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4349 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4350 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4353 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4354 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4357 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4358 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4362 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4363 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4364 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4368 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4369 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4371 One more special mark, though:
4375 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4376 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4378 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4379 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4380 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4381 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
4387 @subsection Other Marks
4388 @cindex process mark
4391 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4397 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4398 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4399 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4400 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4401 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
4404 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4405 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4406 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4407 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4410 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4411 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4412 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4415 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4416 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4417 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4418 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4421 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4422 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4423 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4424 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4425 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4428 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4429 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4430 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4431 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4432 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4433 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4437 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4438 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4439 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4441 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4442 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4443 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4447 @subsection Setting Marks
4448 @cindex setting marks
4450 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4455 @kindex M c (Summary)
4456 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4457 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4458 @cindex mark as unread
4459 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4460 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4466 @kindex M t (Summary)
4467 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4468 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4469 @xref{Article Caching}.
4474 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4475 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4476 Mark the current article as dormant
4477 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4481 @kindex M d (Summary)
4483 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4484 Mark the current article as read
4485 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4489 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4490 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4491 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4496 @kindex M k (Summary)
4497 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4498 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4499 and then select the next unread article
4500 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4504 @kindex M K (Summary)
4505 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4506 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4507 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4508 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4511 @kindex M C (Summary)
4512 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4513 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4514 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4517 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4518 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4519 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4520 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4523 @kindex M H (Summary)
4524 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4525 Catchup the current group to point
4526 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4529 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4530 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4531 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4532 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4535 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4536 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4537 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4538 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4542 @kindex M e (Summary)
4544 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4545 Mark the current article as expirable
4546 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4549 @kindex M b (Summary)
4550 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4551 Set a bookmark in the current article
4552 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4555 @kindex M B (Summary)
4556 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4557 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4558 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4561 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4562 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4563 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4564 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4567 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4568 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4569 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4570 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4573 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4574 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4575 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4576 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4577 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4580 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4581 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4582 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4583 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4584 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4585 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4586 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4587 The default is @code{t}.
4590 @node Generic Marking Commands
4591 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
4593 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
4594 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
4595 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
4596 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
4597 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
4600 Multiply these five behaviours with five different marking commands, and
4601 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
4604 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
4605 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
4606 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
4607 to list in this manual.
4609 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
4610 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
4611 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
4612 article, you could say something like:
4615 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
4616 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
4617 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
4623 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
4624 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
4628 @node Setting Process Marks
4629 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4630 @cindex setting process marks
4637 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4638 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4639 Mark the current article with the process mark
4640 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4641 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4645 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4646 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4647 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4648 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4651 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4652 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4653 Remove the process mark from all articles
4654 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4657 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4658 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4659 Invert the list of process marked articles
4660 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4663 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4664 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4665 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
4666 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4669 @kindex M P G (Summary)
4670 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
4671 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
4672 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
4675 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4676 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4677 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4680 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4681 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4682 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4683 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4686 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4687 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4688 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4689 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4692 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4693 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4694 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4695 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4698 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4699 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4700 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4703 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4704 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4705 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4706 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4709 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4710 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4711 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4714 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4715 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4716 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4717 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4720 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4721 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4722 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4723 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4726 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4727 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4728 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4729 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4732 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4733 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4734 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4735 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4744 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4745 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4746 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4749 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
4750 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
4751 additional articles.
4757 @kindex / / (Summary)
4758 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4759 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4760 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4763 @kindex / a (Summary)
4764 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4765 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4766 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4769 @kindex / x (Summary)
4770 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
4771 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
4772 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
4773 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4777 @kindex / u (Summary)
4779 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4780 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
4781 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4782 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4783 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4786 @kindex / m (Summary)
4787 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4788 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
4789 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4792 @kindex / t (Summary)
4793 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4794 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
4795 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4796 articles younger than that number of days.
4799 @kindex / n (Summary)
4800 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4801 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4802 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4803 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4806 @kindex / w (Summary)
4807 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4808 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4809 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4813 @kindex / v (Summary)
4814 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4815 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4816 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4820 @kindex M S (Summary)
4821 @kindex / E (Summary)
4822 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4823 Include all expunged articles in the limit
4824 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4827 @kindex / D (Summary)
4828 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4829 Include all dormant articles in the limit
4830 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4833 @kindex / * (Summary)
4834 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
4835 Include all cached articles in the limit
4836 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
4839 @kindex / d (Summary)
4840 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4841 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
4842 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4845 @kindex / M (Summary)
4846 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
4847 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
4850 @kindex / T (Summary)
4851 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
4852 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
4855 @kindex / c (Summary)
4856 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4857 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
4858 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4861 @kindex / C (Summary)
4862 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4863 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4864 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4865 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4873 @cindex article threading
4875 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4876 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4877 hierarchical fashion.
4879 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
4880 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
4881 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
4882 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
4883 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
4884 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
4885 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
4887 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
4891 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
4894 A tree-like article structure.
4897 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
4900 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
4901 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
4902 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
4903 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
4904 called loose threads.
4906 @item thread gathering
4907 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
4909 @item sparse threads
4910 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
4911 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
4917 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4918 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4922 @node Customizing Threading
4923 @subsection Customizing Threading
4924 @cindex customizing threading
4927 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
4928 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
4929 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
4930 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
4935 @subsubsection Loose Threads
4938 @cindex loose threads
4941 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4942 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4943 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4944 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4945 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4946 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4948 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
4949 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
4950 There are four possible values:
4954 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
4955 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
4956 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4957 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4958 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4963 @cindex adopting articles
4968 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4969 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4970 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4971 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4974 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4975 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4976 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4977 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4978 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4979 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4980 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4983 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4984 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4985 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4989 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4990 display them after one another.
4993 Don't gather loose threads.
4996 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4997 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4998 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4999 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
5000 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
5001 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
5002 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
5003 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
5004 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
5005 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
5006 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
5008 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
5009 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
5010 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
5013 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5014 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5015 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
5016 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
5017 simplification is used.
5019 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5020 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5021 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
5022 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
5024 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
5026 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5032 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
5033 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
5034 "answer" "reference" "announce"
5035 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
5040 (mapconcat 'identity
5041 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
5043 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
5046 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
5049 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5050 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5051 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
5052 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
5053 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
5054 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
5056 Useful functions to put in this list include:
5059 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
5060 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
5061 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
5063 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5064 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5067 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
5068 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
5069 Remove excessive whitespace.
5072 You may also write your own functions, of course.
5075 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5076 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5077 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
5078 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
5079 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
5080 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
5081 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
5082 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
5084 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5085 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5086 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
5087 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
5088 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
5089 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
5090 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
5091 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
5092 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
5096 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5097 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5098 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
5099 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
5101 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5102 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5103 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
5106 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
5110 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5111 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
5117 @node Filling In Threads
5118 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
5121 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
5122 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
5123 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
5124 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
5125 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
5126 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
5127 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
5128 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
5129 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
5130 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
5131 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
5132 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
5134 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
5135 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5136 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5138 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5139 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5140 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5141 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5142 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5143 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5144 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
5145 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5146 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
5147 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
5148 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5149 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
5150 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5151 @code{nil} by default.
5156 @node More Threading
5157 @subsubsection More Threading
5160 @item gnus-show-threads
5161 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5162 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5163 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5164 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5165 slower and more awkward.
5167 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5168 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5169 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5172 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5173 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5174 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5175 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5176 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5177 threads are expunged.
5179 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5180 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5181 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5184 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5185 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5186 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5187 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5188 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5191 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5192 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5193 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5196 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5197 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5198 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
5199 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
5200 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
5201 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
5202 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
5203 Setting this variable to an alternate value
5204 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
5205 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
5206 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
5211 @node Low-Level Threading
5212 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5216 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5217 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5218 Hook run before parsing any headers.
5220 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5221 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5222 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5223 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5224 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5225 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5226 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5227 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5228 meaningful. Here's one example:
5231 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5233 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5234 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5236 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5238 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5245 @node Thread Commands
5246 @subsection Thread Commands
5247 @cindex thread commands
5253 @kindex T k (Summary)
5254 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5255 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5256 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5257 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5258 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5263 @kindex T l (Summary)
5264 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5265 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5266 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5267 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5270 @kindex T i (Summary)
5271 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5272 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5273 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5276 @kindex T # (Summary)
5277 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5278 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5279 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5282 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5283 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5284 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5285 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5288 @kindex T T (Summary)
5289 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5290 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5293 @kindex T s (Summary)
5294 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5295 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5296 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5299 @kindex T h (Summary)
5300 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5301 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5304 @kindex T S (Summary)
5305 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5306 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5309 @kindex T H (Summary)
5310 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5311 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5314 @kindex T t (Summary)
5315 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5316 Re-thread the current article's thread
5317 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5318 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5321 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5322 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5323 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5324 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5328 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5329 understand the numeric prefix.
5334 @kindex T n (Summary)
5335 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5336 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5339 @kindex T p (Summary)
5340 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5341 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5344 @kindex T d (Summary)
5345 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5346 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5349 @kindex T u (Summary)
5350 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5351 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5354 @kindex T o (Summary)
5355 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5356 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5359 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5360 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5361 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5362 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5363 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5364 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5365 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5366 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5367 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5368 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5369 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5370 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5377 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5378 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5379 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5380 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5381 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5382 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5383 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5384 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5385 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
5386 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
5387 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
5389 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5390 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5391 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5392 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5393 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5395 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5396 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5397 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
5399 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
5400 last function in the list. You should probably always include
5401 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5402 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5403 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5404 ascending article order.
5406 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
5407 by number, you could do something like:
5410 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5411 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5412 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5413 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
5416 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5417 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5418 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5419 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5420 which the articles arrived.
5422 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5426 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5428 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5429 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5432 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5433 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5434 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5435 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5438 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5439 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5440 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5441 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5442 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5443 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5444 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5445 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5446 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5447 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5448 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5449 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5450 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5452 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5456 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5457 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5458 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5463 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5464 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5465 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5466 @cindex article pre-fetch
5469 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5470 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5471 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5472 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5473 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5475 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5476 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
5478 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5479 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5480 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5481 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5482 connection is blocked.
5484 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5485 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5486 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5487 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
5489 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5490 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5491 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5492 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5495 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5498 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5499 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5500 happen automatically.
5502 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5503 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5504 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5505 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5506 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5507 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5508 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5510 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5511 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5512 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5513 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5514 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5515 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5516 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5517 data structure as the only parameter.
5519 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5522 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5523 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5524 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5525 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
5528 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
5531 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
5532 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
5533 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
5535 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
5536 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
5537 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
5538 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
5542 Remove articles when they are read.
5545 Remove articles when exiting the group.
5548 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
5550 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
5551 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
5552 @c from the next group.
5555 @node Article Caching
5556 @section Article Caching
5557 @cindex article caching
5560 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
5561 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
5562 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
5563 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
5564 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
5566 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
5568 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5569 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
5570 @vindex gnus-use-cache
5571 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
5572 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
5573 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
5574 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
5575 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
5577 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
5578 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
5579 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
5580 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
5581 as dormant, and don't worry.
5583 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
5585 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
5586 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
5587 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
5588 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
5589 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
5590 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
5591 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
5592 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
5593 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
5594 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
5596 @findex gnus-jog-cache
5597 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
5598 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
5599 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
5600 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
5601 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
5602 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
5603 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
5604 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
5605 not then be downloaded by this command.
5607 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
5608 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
5609 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
5610 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
5611 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
5612 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
5614 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
5615 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
5616 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
5617 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
5618 variables, the group is not cached.
5620 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
5621 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
5622 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
5623 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
5624 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
5625 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
5626 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
5627 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
5628 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
5632 @node Persistent Articles
5633 @section Persistent Articles
5634 @cindex persistent articles
5636 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
5637 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
5638 useful in my opinion.
5640 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
5641 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
5642 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
5643 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
5644 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
5645 the expiry going on at the news server.
5647 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
5648 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
5649 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
5655 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
5656 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
5659 @kindex M-* (Summary)
5660 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
5661 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
5662 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
5666 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
5668 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
5669 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
5670 interested in persistent articles:
5673 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
5677 @node Article Backlog
5678 @section Article Backlog
5680 @cindex article backlog
5682 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
5683 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
5684 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
5685 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5686 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5687 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5688 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
5689 increase memory usage some.
5691 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5692 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
5693 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5694 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
5695 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5696 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5697 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5699 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5702 @node Saving Articles
5703 @section Saving Articles
5704 @cindex saving articles
5706 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5707 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5708 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5709 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5710 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5712 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5713 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
5714 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5716 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5717 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5718 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5719 deleted before saving.
5725 @kindex O o (Summary)
5727 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5728 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
5729 Save the current article using the default article saver
5730 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5733 @kindex O m (Summary)
5734 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5735 Save the current article in mail format
5736 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5739 @kindex O r (Summary)
5740 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5741 Save the current article in rmail format
5742 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5745 @kindex O f (Summary)
5746 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5747 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
5748 Save the current article in plain file format
5749 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5752 @kindex O F (Summary)
5753 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5754 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5755 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5758 @kindex O b (Summary)
5759 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5760 Save the current article body in plain file format
5761 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5764 @kindex O h (Summary)
5765 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5766 Save the current article in mh folder format
5767 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5770 @kindex O v (Summary)
5771 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5772 Save the current article in a VM folder
5773 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5776 @kindex O p (Summary)
5777 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5778 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5779 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5782 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5783 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5784 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5785 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5786 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5787 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5788 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5789 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5790 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5791 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5792 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5793 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5797 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5798 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5799 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
5800 functions below, or you can create your own.
5804 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5805 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5806 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5807 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5808 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5809 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5810 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5812 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5813 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5814 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5815 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5816 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5817 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5819 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5820 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5821 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5822 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5823 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5824 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5825 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5827 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5828 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5829 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5830 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5831 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5833 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5834 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5835 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5836 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5837 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5840 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5841 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5842 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5843 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5844 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
5846 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5847 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5848 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5849 reader to use this setting.
5852 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5853 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5854 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5855 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5858 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5859 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5860 available functions that generate names:
5864 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5865 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5866 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5868 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5869 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5870 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5872 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5873 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5874 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5876 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5877 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5878 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5881 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5882 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
5883 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
5884 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
5885 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
5889 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5890 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5891 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5892 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5895 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5896 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5897 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5898 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5899 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5900 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5901 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5902 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5903 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5905 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5906 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5907 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5908 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5910 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5911 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5912 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
5915 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
5916 lots of mail groups called things like
5917 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
5918 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
5919 following will do just that:
5922 (defun my-save-name (group)
5923 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
5924 (substring group (match-end 0))))
5926 (setq gnus-split-methods
5927 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
5932 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5933 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5934 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5935 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5936 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5937 all the files in the top level directory
5938 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5939 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5940 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5941 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5943 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5944 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5945 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5946 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5947 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5950 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5954 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5955 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5958 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5959 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5960 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5961 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5964 @node Decoding Articles
5965 @section Decoding Articles
5966 @cindex decoding articles
5968 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5969 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5972 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5973 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
5974 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5975 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
5976 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5977 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5981 @cindex article series
5982 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5983 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5984 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5985 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5986 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5988 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5989 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5990 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5992 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
5993 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5994 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5996 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5997 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5998 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
6001 @node Uuencoded Articles
6002 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
6004 @cindex uuencoded articles
6009 @kindex X u (Summary)
6010 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
6011 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
6012 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
6015 @kindex X U (Summary)
6016 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
6017 Uudecodes and saves the current series
6018 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6021 @kindex X v u (Summary)
6022 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
6023 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
6026 @kindex X v U (Summary)
6027 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
6028 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
6029 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
6033 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
6034 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
6035 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
6036 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
6037 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6039 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
6040 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
6041 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
6042 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
6045 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
6046 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
6047 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
6048 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
6049 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
6050 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
6054 @node Shell Archives
6055 @subsection Shell Archives
6057 @cindex shell archives
6058 @cindex shared articles
6060 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
6061 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
6062 some commands to deal with these:
6067 @kindex X s (Summary)
6068 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
6069 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
6072 @kindex X S (Summary)
6073 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
6074 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
6077 @kindex X v s (Summary)
6078 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
6079 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
6082 @kindex X v S (Summary)
6083 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
6084 Unshars, views and saves the current series
6085 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
6089 @node PostScript Files
6090 @subsection PostScript Files
6096 @kindex X p (Summary)
6097 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
6098 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
6101 @kindex X P (Summary)
6102 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
6103 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
6104 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
6107 @kindex X v p (Summary)
6108 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
6109 View the current PostScript series
6110 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
6113 @kindex X v P (Summary)
6114 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
6115 View and save the current PostScript series
6116 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
6121 @subsection Other Files
6125 @kindex X o (Summary)
6126 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
6127 Save the current series
6128 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
6131 @kindex X b (Summary)
6132 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
6133 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
6134 doesn't really work yet.
6138 @node Decoding Variables
6139 @subsection Decoding Variables
6141 Adjective, not verb.
6144 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
6145 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
6146 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6150 @node Rule Variables
6151 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6152 @cindex rule variables
6154 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6155 variables are of the form
6158 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6165 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6166 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6168 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6169 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6172 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6173 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
6176 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6177 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6178 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6179 user and default view rules.
6181 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6182 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6183 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6188 @node Other Decode Variables
6189 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6192 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6194 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6195 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6196 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6197 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6198 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6202 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6203 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6206 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6207 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6208 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6211 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6212 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6213 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6214 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6215 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6218 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6219 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6220 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6222 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6223 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6224 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6225 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6226 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6229 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6230 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6231 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6233 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6234 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6235 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6236 looking for files to display.
6238 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6239 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6240 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6243 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6244 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6245 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6248 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6249 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6250 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6253 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6254 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6255 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6258 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6259 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6260 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6261 decoded articles as unread.
6263 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6264 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6265 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6266 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6268 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6269 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6270 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6272 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6273 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6275 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6276 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6277 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6278 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6280 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6281 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6282 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6283 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6284 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6285 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
6286 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6287 simply dropped them.
6292 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6293 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6297 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6298 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6299 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6300 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6301 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6302 for you when you post the article.
6304 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6305 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6306 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6307 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6309 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6310 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6311 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6312 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6313 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6314 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6315 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6317 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6318 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6319 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6320 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6321 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6322 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6323 Default is @code{t}.
6329 @subsection Viewing Files
6330 @cindex viewing files
6331 @cindex pseudo-articles
6333 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
6334 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6335 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6336 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
6337 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6338 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6339 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6341 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6342 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6343 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6344 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6346 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6347 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6348 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6350 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6351 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6352 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6353 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6354 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6356 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6357 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6358 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6359 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6360 a list of parameters to that command.
6362 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6363 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6364 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6366 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6367 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6368 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6371 @node Article Treatment
6372 @section Article Treatment
6374 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6375 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6376 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6377 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6378 these articles easier.
6381 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6382 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6383 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6384 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6385 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6386 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6387 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6388 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
6392 @node Article Highlighting
6393 @subsection Article Highlighting
6394 @cindex highlighting
6396 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6397 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6402 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6403 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6404 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6405 Do much highlighting of the current article
6406 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6407 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6410 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6411 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6412 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6413 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6414 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6415 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
6416 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
6417 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6418 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6419 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6420 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6421 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6424 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6425 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6426 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6428 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6431 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6433 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6434 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6435 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6437 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6438 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6439 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6441 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6442 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6443 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6445 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6446 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6447 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6448 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6449 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6450 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6452 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6453 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6454 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6456 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6457 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6458 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6460 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6461 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6462 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6463 that it's a citation.
6465 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6466 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6467 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6469 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6470 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6471 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6473 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6474 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6475 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6476 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6482 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6483 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6484 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6485 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6486 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6487 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6488 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6489 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6494 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
6497 @node Article Fontisizing
6498 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6500 @cindex article emphasis
6502 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6503 @kindex W e (Summary)
6504 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6505 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
6506 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6507 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6509 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
6510 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6511 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
6512 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6513 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6514 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6515 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6516 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6520 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6521 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6522 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
6531 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
6532 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
6533 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
6534 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
6535 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
6536 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
6537 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
6538 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
6539 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
6540 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
6541 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
6542 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
6543 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
6545 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
6546 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
6547 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
6551 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
6554 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
6556 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
6557 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
6558 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
6559 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
6561 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
6564 @node Article Hiding
6565 @subsection Article Hiding
6566 @cindex article hiding
6568 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
6569 too much cruft in most articles.
6574 @kindex W W a (Summary)
6575 @findex gnus-article-hide
6576 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
6577 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
6578 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
6581 @kindex W W h (Summary)
6582 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
6583 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
6587 @kindex W W b (Summary)
6588 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6589 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
6590 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
6593 @kindex W W s (Summary)
6594 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
6595 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
6599 @kindex W W l (Summary)
6600 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
6601 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
6602 Hide list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
6603 are strings some list servers add to the beginning of all @code{Subject}
6604 headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}.
6608 @item gnus-list-identifiers
6609 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
6610 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
6611 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
6616 @kindex W W p (Summary)
6617 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
6618 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6619 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
6620 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
6621 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
6622 articles that have signatures in them do:
6624 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
6626 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
6628 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
6629 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
6631 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6634 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
6639 @kindex W W P (Summary)
6640 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
6641 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
6642 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
6645 @kindex W W B (Summary)
6646 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
6649 @cindex stripping advertisments
6650 @cindex advertisments
6651 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
6652 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
6653 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
6654 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
6655 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
6656 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
6657 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
6658 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
6659 signature should be removed.
6662 @kindex W W c (Summary)
6663 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
6664 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
6665 customizing the hiding:
6669 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6670 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6671 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6672 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6673 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
6674 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
6675 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
6680 Starting point of the hidden text.
6682 Ending point of the hidden text.
6684 Number of characters in the hidden region.
6686 Number of lines of hidden text.
6689 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
6690 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
6691 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
6692 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
6693 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
6698 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
6699 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
6701 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
6702 following two variables:
6705 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6706 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6707 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
6708 50), hide the cited text.
6710 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6711 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6712 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
6717 @kindex W W C (Summary)
6718 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
6719 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
6720 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
6721 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
6722 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
6726 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
6727 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
6728 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
6730 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
6731 citation customization.
6733 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
6737 @node Article Washing
6738 @subsection Article Washing
6740 @cindex article washing
6742 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
6743 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
6745 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
6746 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
6752 @kindex W l (Summary)
6753 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
6754 Remove page breaks from the current article
6755 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
6759 @kindex W r (Summary)
6760 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
6761 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
6762 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
6763 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
6764 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
6765 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
6767 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
6768 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
6769 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
6770 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
6773 @kindex W t (Summary)
6774 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
6775 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
6776 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
6779 @kindex W v (Summary)
6780 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
6781 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
6782 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
6785 @kindex W o (Summary)
6786 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
6787 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
6790 @kindex W d (Summary)
6791 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
6792 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
6794 @cindex M******** sm*rtq**t*s
6796 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s according to
6797 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
6798 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
6799 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
6803 @kindex W w (Summary)
6804 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
6805 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
6807 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
6811 @kindex W Q (Summary)
6812 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
6813 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
6816 @kindex W C (Summary)
6817 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
6818 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
6819 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
6822 @kindex W c (Summary)
6823 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
6824 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
6825 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
6826 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
6827 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
6830 @kindex W q (Summary)
6831 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
6832 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
6833 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
6834 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
6835 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
6836 readable to me. Note that the this is usually done automatically by
6837 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
6838 header that says that this encoding has been done.
6841 @kindex W f (Summary)
6843 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
6844 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
6845 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
6846 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
6852 Look for and display any X-Face headers
6853 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
6854 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
6855 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
6856 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
6857 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
6858 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
6859 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
6860 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
6861 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
6862 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
6863 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
6864 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
6865 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6869 @kindex W b (Summary)
6870 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6871 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6872 @xref{Article Buttons}.
6875 @kindex W B (Summary)
6876 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6877 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6878 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6881 @kindex W W H (Summary)
6882 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
6883 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
6884 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
6887 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6888 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6889 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6890 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6893 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6894 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6895 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6896 lines with a single empty line.
6897 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6900 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6901 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6902 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6903 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6906 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6907 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6908 Do all the three commands above
6909 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6912 @kindex W E A (Summary)
6913 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
6914 Remove all blank lines
6915 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
6918 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6919 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6920 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6921 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6924 @kindex W E e (Summary)
6925 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
6926 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
6927 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
6931 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
6934 @node Article Buttons
6935 @subsection Article Buttons
6938 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6939 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6940 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
6941 button on these references.
6943 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6944 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6945 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6950 @item gnus-button-alist
6951 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6952 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6955 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6961 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6962 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
6963 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6966 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
6967 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
6968 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6971 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6972 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6973 avoid false matches.
6976 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6979 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6980 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6984 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6987 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6990 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6991 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6992 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6993 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6994 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6997 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7000 @var{header} is a regular expression.
7002 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
7003 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
7004 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
7005 default values of the variables above.
7007 @item gnus-article-button-face
7008 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
7009 Face used on buttons.
7011 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
7012 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
7013 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
7017 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
7021 @subsection Article Date
7023 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
7024 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
7025 when the article was sent.
7030 @kindex W T u (Summary)
7031 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
7032 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
7033 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
7036 @kindex W T i (Summary)
7037 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
7039 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
7040 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
7043 @kindex W T l (Summary)
7044 @findex gnus-article-date-local
7045 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
7048 @kindex W T s (Summary)
7049 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
7050 @findex gnus-article-date-user
7051 @findex format-time-string
7052 Display the date using a user-defined format
7053 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
7054 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
7055 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
7056 for a list of possible format specs.
7059 @kindex W T e (Summary)
7060 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
7061 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
7062 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
7063 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
7064 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
7067 X-Sent: 9 years, 6 weeks, 4 days, 9 hours, 3 minutes, 28 seconds ago
7070 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
7071 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
7074 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
7075 into wonderful absurdities.
7077 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
7080 (gnus-start-date-timer)
7083 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
7084 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
7088 @kindex W T o (Summary)
7089 @findex gnus-article-date-original
7090 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
7091 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
7092 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
7093 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
7094 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
7098 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
7099 preferred format automatically.
7102 @node Article Signature
7103 @subsection Article Signature
7105 @cindex article signature
7107 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7108 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
7109 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
7110 that says what is to be considered a signature is
7111 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
7112 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
7113 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
7114 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
7115 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
7118 (setq gnus-signature-separator
7119 '("^-- $" ; The standard
7120 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
7121 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
7122 ; line of dashes. Shame!
7123 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
7124 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
7125 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
7128 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
7131 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
7132 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
7133 signature when displaying articles.
7137 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
7140 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
7143 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
7144 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
7146 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
7147 in question is not a signature.
7150 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
7151 listed above. Here's an example:
7154 (setq gnus-signature-limit
7155 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
7158 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
7159 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
7160 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
7161 signature after all.
7164 @node Article Miscellania
7165 @subsection Article Miscellania
7169 @kindex A t (Summary)
7170 @findex gnus-article-babel
7171 Translate the article from one language to another
7172 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
7178 @section @sc{mime} Commands
7179 @cindex MIME decoding
7181 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
7182 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
7188 @kindex K v (Summary)
7189 View the @sc{mime} part.
7192 @kindex K o (Summary)
7193 Save the @sc{mime} part.
7196 @kindex K c (Summary)
7197 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
7200 @kindex K e (Summary)
7201 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
7204 @kindex K i (Summary)
7205 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
7208 @kindex K | (Summary)
7209 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
7212 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
7217 @kindex K b (Summary)
7218 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in from of them.
7221 @kindex K m (Summary)
7222 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
7223 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
7224 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
7225 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
7226 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
7229 @kindex X m (Summary)
7230 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
7231 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
7232 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
7233 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7236 @kindex M-t (Summary)
7237 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
7238 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
7239 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
7242 @kindex W M w (Summary)
7243 Decode RFC2047-encoded words in the article headers
7244 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
7247 @kindex W M c (Summary)
7248 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
7249 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
7251 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
7252 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
7253 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
7254 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
7255 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
7256 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
7259 @kindex W M v (Summary)
7260 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
7261 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
7268 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
7269 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
7270 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7271 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
7274 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
7277 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
7281 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7282 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7283 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7284 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
7285 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
7287 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
7288 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
7289 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
7290 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
7291 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
7292 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
7293 save all jpegs into some directory).
7295 Here's an example function the does the latter:
7298 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
7299 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
7301 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
7302 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
7303 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
7304 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
7305 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
7308 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7309 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7310 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
7319 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
7320 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
7321 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
7322 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
7323 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
7324 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
7325 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
7327 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
7328 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
7329 variable, which is an alist of regexps (to match group names) and
7330 default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
7332 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
7333 aren't. These blitely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1} even
7334 if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
7335 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
7336 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be set
7337 on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
7338 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit)}, which is
7339 something some agents insist on having in there.
7345 @cindex coding system aliases
7346 @cindex preferred charset
7348 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
7350 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
7351 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
7354 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
7355 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
7358 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
7359 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
7361 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
7364 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
7367 This will almost do the right thing.
7369 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
7373 (codepage-setup 1251)
7374 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
7378 @node Article Commands
7379 @section Article Commands
7386 @kindex A P (Summary)
7387 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
7388 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
7389 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
7390 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
7391 run just before printing the buffer.
7396 @node Summary Sorting
7397 @section Summary Sorting
7398 @cindex summary sorting
7400 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
7401 can't really see why you'd want that.
7406 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
7407 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
7408 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
7411 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
7412 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
7413 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
7416 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
7417 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
7418 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
7421 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
7422 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
7423 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
7426 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
7427 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
7428 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
7431 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
7432 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
7433 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
7436 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
7437 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
7438 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
7441 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
7442 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
7443 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
7444 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
7445 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
7449 @node Finding the Parent
7450 @section Finding the Parent
7451 @cindex parent articles
7452 @cindex referring articles
7457 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
7458 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
7459 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
7460 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
7461 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
7462 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
7463 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
7464 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
7465 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
7467 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
7468 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
7469 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
7470 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
7471 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
7475 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
7476 @kindex A R (Summary)
7477 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
7478 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
7481 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
7482 @kindex A T (Summary)
7483 Display the full thread where the current article appears
7484 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
7485 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
7486 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
7487 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
7488 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
7489 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
7491 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
7492 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
7493 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
7494 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
7495 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
7496 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
7499 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
7500 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
7502 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
7503 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
7504 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
7505 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
7506 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
7507 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
7508 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
7511 The current select method will be used when fetching by
7512 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
7513 by giving this command a prefix.
7515 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
7516 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
7517 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
7518 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
7519 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
7520 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
7523 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
7524 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
7525 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
7528 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
7529 then ask Deja if that fails:
7532 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
7534 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
7537 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
7538 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
7539 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
7540 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
7541 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
7542 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
7545 @node Alternative Approaches
7546 @section Alternative Approaches
7548 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
7549 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
7552 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
7553 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
7558 @subsection Pick and Read
7559 @cindex pick and read
7561 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
7562 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
7563 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
7564 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
7566 @findex gnus-pick-mode
7567 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
7568 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
7569 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
7570 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
7571 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
7573 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
7578 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
7579 Pick the article or thread on the current line
7580 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7581 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
7582 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
7583 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
7584 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
7585 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
7588 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
7589 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
7590 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
7591 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
7595 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
7596 Unpick the thread or article
7597 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7598 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
7599 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
7600 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
7601 the thread or article at that line.
7605 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
7606 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
7607 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
7608 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
7609 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
7610 will still be visible when you are reading.
7614 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
7615 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
7616 which is mapped to the same function
7617 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
7619 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
7622 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
7625 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
7626 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
7628 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
7629 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
7630 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
7632 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
7633 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
7634 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
7635 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
7636 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
7637 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
7638 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
7642 @subsection Binary Groups
7643 @cindex binary groups
7645 @findex gnus-binary-mode
7646 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
7647 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
7648 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
7649 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
7650 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
7651 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
7654 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
7655 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
7656 command, when you have turned on this mode
7657 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
7659 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
7660 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
7664 @section Tree Display
7667 @vindex gnus-use-trees
7668 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
7669 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
7670 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
7673 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
7676 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
7677 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
7678 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
7680 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7681 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7682 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
7683 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
7684 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
7686 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
7687 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
7688 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
7689 default is @code{modeline}.
7691 @item gnus-tree-line-format
7692 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
7693 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
7694 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
7695 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
7696 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
7697 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
7703 The name of the poster.
7705 The @code{From} header.
7707 The number of the article.
7709 The opening bracket.
7711 The closing bracket.
7716 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7718 Variables related to the display are:
7721 @item gnus-tree-brackets
7722 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
7723 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
7724 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
7725 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
7726 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
7728 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7729 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7730 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
7731 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
7735 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
7736 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
7737 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
7738 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
7739 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
7740 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
7741 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
7742 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
7743 other windows displayed next to it.
7745 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
7746 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
7747 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7748 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
7749 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
7750 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
7751 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
7755 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
7758 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
7768 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
7772 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
7773 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
7775 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
7777 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
7782 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
7783 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
7784 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
7787 (setq gnus-use-trees t
7788 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7789 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
7790 (gnus-add-configuration
7794 (summary 0.75 point)
7799 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
7802 @node Mail Group Commands
7803 @section Mail Group Commands
7804 @cindex mail group commands
7806 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
7807 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
7809 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
7810 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7815 @kindex B e (Summary)
7816 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
7817 Expire all expirable articles in the group
7818 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
7821 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
7822 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
7823 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
7824 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
7825 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
7826 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
7829 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
7830 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
7831 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
7832 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
7833 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
7834 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
7837 @kindex B m (Summary)
7839 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
7840 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
7841 Move the article from one mail group to another
7842 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
7843 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
7846 @kindex B c (Summary)
7848 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
7849 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
7850 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
7851 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
7852 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
7855 @kindex B B (Summary)
7856 @cindex crosspost mail
7857 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
7858 Crosspost the current article to some other group
7859 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
7860 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
7861 be properly updated.
7864 @kindex B i (Summary)
7865 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
7866 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
7867 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
7868 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
7871 @kindex B r (Summary)
7872 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
7873 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
7874 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
7875 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
7876 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
7877 Marks will be preserved if @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
7878 (which is the default).
7882 @kindex B w (Summary)
7884 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
7885 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
7886 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
7887 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
7888 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
7889 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
7892 @kindex B q (Summary)
7893 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
7894 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
7895 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
7896 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
7899 @kindex B t (Summary)
7900 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
7901 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
7902 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
7905 @kindex B p (Summary)
7906 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
7907 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
7908 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
7909 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
7910 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
7911 article from your news server (or rather, from
7912 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
7913 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
7914 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
7915 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
7916 just not have arrived yet.
7920 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
7921 @cindex moving articles
7922 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
7923 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
7924 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
7925 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
7926 suggestions you find reasonable.
7929 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
7930 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
7931 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
7932 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
7936 @node Various Summary Stuff
7937 @section Various Summary Stuff
7940 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
7941 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
7942 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
7943 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
7947 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
7948 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
7949 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
7951 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
7952 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
7953 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
7954 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
7955 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
7956 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
7959 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7960 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7961 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
7962 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
7963 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
7965 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7966 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7967 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
7970 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7971 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7972 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
7973 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
7974 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
7975 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
7976 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
7977 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
7978 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
7979 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
7984 @node Summary Group Information
7985 @subsection Summary Group Information
7990 @kindex H f (Summary)
7991 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
7992 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
7993 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
7994 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
7995 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
7996 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
7997 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
7998 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
7999 be used for fetching the file.
8002 @kindex H d (Summary)
8003 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
8004 Give a brief description of the current group
8005 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
8006 rereading the description from the server.
8009 @kindex H h (Summary)
8010 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
8011 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
8012 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
8015 @kindex H i (Summary)
8016 @findex gnus-info-find-node
8017 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
8021 @node Searching for Articles
8022 @subsection Searching for Articles
8027 @kindex M-s (Summary)
8028 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
8029 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
8030 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
8033 @kindex M-r (Summary)
8034 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
8035 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
8036 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
8040 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
8041 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
8042 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
8043 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
8047 @kindex M-& (Summary)
8048 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
8049 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
8050 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
8053 @node Summary Generation Commands
8054 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
8059 @kindex Y g (Summary)
8060 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
8061 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
8064 @kindex Y c (Summary)
8065 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
8066 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
8067 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
8072 @node Really Various Summary Commands
8073 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
8079 @kindex C-d (Summary)
8080 @kindex A D (Summary)
8081 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
8082 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
8083 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
8084 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
8085 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
8086 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
8087 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
8088 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
8092 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
8093 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
8094 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
8095 several documents into one biiig group
8096 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
8097 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
8098 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
8099 command understands the process/prefix convention
8100 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8103 @kindex C-t (Summary)
8104 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
8105 Toggle truncation of summary lines
8106 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
8107 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
8108 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
8112 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
8113 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
8114 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
8117 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
8118 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
8119 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8120 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
8123 @kindex M-C-a (Summary)
8124 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
8125 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8126 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
8131 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
8132 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
8133 @cindex summary exit
8134 @cindex exiting groups
8136 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
8137 group and return you to the group buffer.
8143 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
8145 @findex gnus-summary-exit
8146 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
8147 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
8148 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
8149 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
8150 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
8151 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
8152 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
8153 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
8154 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
8155 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
8159 @kindex Z E (Summary)
8161 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
8162 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
8163 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
8167 @kindex Z c (Summary)
8169 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
8170 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
8171 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
8172 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
8175 @kindex Z C (Summary)
8176 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
8177 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
8178 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
8181 @kindex Z n (Summary)
8182 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
8183 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
8184 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
8187 @kindex Z R (Summary)
8188 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
8189 Exit this group, and then enter it again
8190 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
8191 all articles, both read and unread.
8195 @kindex Z G (Summary)
8196 @kindex M-g (Summary)
8197 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
8198 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
8199 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
8200 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
8201 articles, both read and unread.
8204 @kindex Z N (Summary)
8205 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
8206 Exit the group and go to the next group
8207 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
8210 @kindex Z P (Summary)
8211 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
8212 Exit the group and go to the previous group
8213 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
8216 @kindex Z s (Summary)
8217 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
8218 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
8219 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
8220 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
8221 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
8224 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
8225 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
8228 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
8229 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
8230 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
8231 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
8232 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
8233 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
8234 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
8235 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
8236 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
8237 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
8238 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
8239 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
8241 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
8243 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
8244 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
8245 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
8246 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
8247 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
8248 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
8249 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
8250 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
8251 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
8254 @node Crosspost Handling
8255 @section Crosspost Handling
8259 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
8260 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
8261 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
8262 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
8263 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
8264 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
8267 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
8268 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
8269 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
8270 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
8271 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
8273 @cindex cross-posting
8276 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
8277 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
8278 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
8279 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
8280 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
8281 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
8282 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
8283 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
8284 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
8285 the cross reference mechanism.
8287 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
8288 @cindex overview.fmt
8289 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
8290 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
8291 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
8292 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
8293 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
8294 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
8297 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
8298 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
8299 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
8304 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
8307 @node Duplicate Suppression
8308 @section Duplicate Suppression
8310 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
8311 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
8312 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
8313 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
8318 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
8319 is evil and not very common.
8322 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
8323 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
8326 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
8327 different @sc{nntp} servers.
8330 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
8333 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
8334 well, but these four are the most common situations.
8336 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
8337 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
8338 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
8339 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
8340 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
8341 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
8342 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
8345 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
8346 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
8347 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
8348 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
8349 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
8353 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
8354 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
8355 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
8357 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
8358 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
8359 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
8360 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
8361 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
8362 session are suppressed.
8364 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
8365 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
8366 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
8367 suppression list. The default is 10000.
8369 @item gnus-duplicate-file
8370 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
8371 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
8372 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
8375 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
8376 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
8377 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
8378 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
8379 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
8380 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
8381 to you to figure out, I think.
8384 @node The Article Buffer
8385 @chapter The Article Buffer
8386 @cindex article buffer
8388 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
8389 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
8390 tell Gnus otherwise.
8393 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
8394 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
8395 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
8396 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
8397 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
8401 @node Hiding Headers
8402 @section Hiding Headers
8403 @cindex hiding headers
8404 @cindex deleting headers
8406 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
8407 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
8409 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
8410 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
8411 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
8412 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
8413 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
8414 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
8415 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
8416 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
8417 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
8419 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
8423 @item gnus-visible-headers
8424 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
8425 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
8426 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
8427 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
8429 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
8430 the article and the subject, you'd say:
8433 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
8436 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8439 @item gnus-ignored-headers
8440 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
8441 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
8442 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
8443 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
8444 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
8446 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
8447 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
8450 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
8453 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8456 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
8457 variable will have no effect.
8461 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
8462 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
8463 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
8464 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
8465 the headers are to be displayed.
8467 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
8468 and then the subject, you might say something like:
8471 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
8474 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
8475 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
8477 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8478 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
8479 You can hide further boring headers by setting
8480 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-header} to @code{head}. What this function
8481 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
8482 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
8483 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
8486 These conditions are:
8489 Remove all empty headers.
8491 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
8492 @code{Newsgroups} header.
8494 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
8497 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
8500 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
8503 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
8505 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
8508 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
8511 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
8512 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
8515 This is also the default value for this variable.
8519 @section Using @sc{mime}
8522 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
8523 while people stand around yawning.
8525 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
8526 while all newsreaders die of fear.
8528 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
8529 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
8530 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
8532 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
8533 @findex gnus-display-mime
8534 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
8535 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
8536 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
8537 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
8539 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
8543 @findex gnus-article-press-button
8545 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
8546 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
8547 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
8549 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
8550 @item M-RET (Article)
8552 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
8553 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
8555 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
8557 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
8558 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
8560 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
8562 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
8563 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
8565 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
8567 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
8568 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
8570 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
8572 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
8574 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
8576 Insert the raw contents of the @sc{mime} object into the buffer
8577 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}).
8581 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
8582 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
8585 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
8586 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
8587 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
8588 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
8589 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
8590 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
8591 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
8592 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
8593 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
8595 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
8597 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
8600 @node Customizing Articles
8601 @section Customizing Articles
8602 @cindex article customization
8604 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
8605 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
8606 called automatically when you select the articles.
8608 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
8609 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
8610 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
8611 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
8613 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
8614 for sensible values.
8618 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
8621 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
8624 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
8627 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
8630 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
8634 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
8635 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
8636 regexps in the list.
8639 A list where the first element is not a string:
8641 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
8642 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
8643 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
8647 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
8652 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
8653 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
8654 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
8655 considered to contain just a single part.
8657 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
8658 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
8659 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
8660 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
8661 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
8662 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
8663 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
8665 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
8666 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
8667 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
8668 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
8671 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last)
8672 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
8673 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
8674 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
8675 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
8676 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
8677 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
8678 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
8679 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
8680 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
8681 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
8682 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
8683 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
8684 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
8685 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
8686 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
8687 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
8688 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
8689 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
8690 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
8691 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
8692 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
8693 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
8694 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
8695 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
8696 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
8697 @item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
8698 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
8699 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
8700 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
8701 @item gnus-treat-translate
8704 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
8705 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
8706 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
8707 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
8708 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
8712 @node Article Keymap
8713 @section Article Keymap
8715 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
8716 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
8717 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
8718 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
8721 A few additional keystrokes are available:
8726 @kindex SPACE (Article)
8727 @findex gnus-article-next-page
8728 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
8731 @kindex DEL (Article)
8732 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
8733 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
8736 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
8737 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
8738 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
8739 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
8740 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
8743 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
8744 @findex gnus-article-mail
8745 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
8746 given a prefix, include the mail.
8750 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
8751 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
8752 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
8756 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
8757 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
8758 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
8761 @kindex TAB (Article)
8762 @findex gnus-article-next-button
8763 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
8764 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
8767 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
8768 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
8769 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
8775 @section Misc Article
8779 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
8780 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
8781 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
8782 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
8785 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
8786 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
8788 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
8789 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
8791 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
8792 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
8793 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
8794 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
8795 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
8796 the contents of the article buffer.
8798 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
8799 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
8800 Hook called in article mode buffers.
8802 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8803 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8804 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
8805 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
8807 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
8808 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
8809 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
8810 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
8811 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
8816 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
8817 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
8820 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
8823 @vindex gnus-break-pages
8825 @item gnus-break-pages
8826 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
8827 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
8828 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
8829 paging will not be done.
8831 @item gnus-page-delimiter
8832 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
8833 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
8838 @node Composing Messages
8839 @chapter Composing Messages
8840 @cindex composing messages
8843 @cindex sending mail
8848 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
8849 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
8850 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
8851 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The
8852 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
8853 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
8856 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
8857 * Post:: Posting and following up.
8858 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
8859 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
8860 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
8861 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
8862 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
8863 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
8866 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
8867 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
8873 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
8876 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
8877 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
8878 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
8879 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
8881 @item gnus-add-to-list
8882 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
8883 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
8884 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
8892 Variables for composing news articles:
8895 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8896 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8897 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
8898 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
8899 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
8900 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
8901 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
8902 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
8903 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
8906 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8907 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8908 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
8909 file. It is 1000 by default.
8914 @node Posting Server
8915 @section Posting Server
8917 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
8918 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
8920 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
8922 @vindex gnus-post-method
8924 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
8925 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
8926 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
8927 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
8928 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
8931 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
8934 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
8935 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
8936 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
8937 the ``current'' server for posting.
8939 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
8940 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
8942 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
8943 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
8946 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
8947 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
8948 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
8953 @section Mail and Post
8955 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
8959 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
8960 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
8961 @cindex mailing lists
8963 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
8964 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
8965 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
8966 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
8967 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
8968 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
8969 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
8970 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
8971 still a pain, though.
8975 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
8976 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
8977 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
8980 @findex ispell-message
8982 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
8986 @node Archived Messages
8987 @section Archived Messages
8988 @cindex archived messages
8989 @cindex sent messages
8991 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
8992 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
8993 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
8994 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
8997 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
8998 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
8999 use to store sent messages. The default is:
9003 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
9004 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
9005 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
9006 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
9009 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
9010 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
9011 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
9012 directory chosen, you could say something like:
9015 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
9016 '(nnfolder "archive"
9017 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
9018 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
9019 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
9022 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
9024 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
9025 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
9026 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
9028 This variable can be used to do the following:
9032 Messages will be saved in that group.
9033 @item a list of strings
9034 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
9035 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
9036 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
9038 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
9043 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
9045 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
9048 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
9050 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
9053 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
9055 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9056 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
9057 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
9058 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
9063 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9064 '((if (message-news-p)
9069 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
9070 messages in one file per month:
9073 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9074 '((if (message-news-p)
9076 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
9079 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
9080 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
9082 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
9083 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
9084 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
9085 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
9086 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
9087 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
9088 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
9089 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
9090 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
9091 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
9093 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
9094 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
9095 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
9096 this will disable archiving.
9099 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
9100 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
9101 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
9102 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
9103 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
9106 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
9107 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
9108 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
9111 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
9112 but the latter is the preferred method.
9116 @node Posting Styles
9117 @section Posting Styles
9118 @cindex posting styles
9121 All them variables, they make my head swim.
9123 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
9124 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
9125 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
9128 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
9129 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
9130 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
9131 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
9132 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
9137 (signature "Peace and happiness")
9138 (organization "What me?"))
9140 (signature "Death to everybody"))
9141 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
9142 (organization "Emacs is it")))
9145 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
9146 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
9147 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
9148 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
9149 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
9150 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
9151 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
9152 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
9154 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
9155 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
9156 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header that
9157 match the next element in the match, and compare that to the last header
9158 in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function will be called
9159 with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
9160 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
9161 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
9164 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
9165 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} . @var{value})} pair. The
9166 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
9167 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
9168 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
9169 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
9170 article. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated,
9171 and the result is thrown away.
9173 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
9174 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
9175 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
9176 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
9177 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
9178 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
9180 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
9181 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
9182 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
9184 @findex message-mail-p
9185 @findex message-news-p
9187 So here's a new example:
9190 (setq gnus-posting-styles
9192 (signature-file "~/.signature")
9194 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
9195 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
9197 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
9198 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
9199 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
9201 (signature my-news-signature))
9202 ((header "From.*To" "larsi.*org")
9203 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
9204 ((posting-from-work-p)
9205 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
9206 (address "user@@bar.foo")
9207 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
9208 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
9210 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
9218 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
9219 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
9220 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
9221 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
9222 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
9224 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
9225 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
9226 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
9227 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
9228 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
9232 @vindex nndraft-directory
9233 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
9234 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
9235 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
9236 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
9237 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
9238 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
9240 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
9241 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
9244 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
9245 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
9246 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
9247 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
9248 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
9249 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
9250 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
9251 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
9252 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
9253 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
9254 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
9255 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
9256 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
9257 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
9259 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
9260 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
9261 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
9263 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
9265 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
9266 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
9267 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
9269 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
9272 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
9273 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
9274 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
9275 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
9276 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
9277 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
9278 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
9281 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
9282 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
9283 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
9286 @node Rejected Articles
9287 @section Rejected Articles
9288 @cindex rejected articles
9290 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
9291 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
9292 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
9293 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
9295 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
9296 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
9297 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
9298 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
9299 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
9301 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
9302 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
9303 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
9306 @node Select Methods
9307 @chapter Select Methods
9308 @cindex foreign groups
9309 @cindex select methods
9311 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
9312 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
9313 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
9314 personal mail group.
9316 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
9317 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
9318 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
9319 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
9320 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
9321 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
9323 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
9324 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
9326 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
9329 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
9330 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
9331 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
9332 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
9333 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
9335 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
9338 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
9339 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
9340 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
9341 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
9342 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
9343 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
9344 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
9348 @node The Server Buffer
9349 @section The Server Buffer
9351 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
9352 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
9353 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
9354 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
9355 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
9356 backend represents a virtual server.
9358 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
9359 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
9360 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
9361 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
9363 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
9364 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
9365 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
9366 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
9367 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
9368 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
9369 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
9371 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
9372 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
9375 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
9376 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
9377 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
9378 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
9379 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
9380 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
9381 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
9384 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
9385 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
9388 @node Server Buffer Format
9389 @subsection Server Buffer Format
9390 @cindex server buffer format
9392 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
9393 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
9394 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
9395 variable, with some simple extensions:
9400 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
9403 The name of this server.
9406 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
9409 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
9412 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
9413 The mode line can also be customized by using the
9414 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
9415 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
9425 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
9428 @node Server Commands
9429 @subsection Server Commands
9430 @cindex server commands
9436 @findex gnus-server-add-server
9437 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
9441 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
9442 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
9445 @kindex SPACE (Server)
9446 @findex gnus-server-read-server
9447 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
9451 @findex gnus-server-exit
9452 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
9456 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
9457 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
9461 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
9462 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
9466 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
9467 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
9471 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
9472 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
9476 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
9477 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
9478 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
9483 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
9484 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
9485 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
9486 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
9491 @node Example Methods
9492 @subsection Example Methods
9494 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
9497 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
9500 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
9506 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
9507 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
9510 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
9511 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
9513 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
9514 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
9518 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
9521 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
9522 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
9524 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
9525 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
9526 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
9530 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
9533 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
9536 Here's the method for a public spool:
9540 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
9541 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
9544 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
9545 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
9546 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
9547 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
9548 should probably look something like this:
9552 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
9553 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9554 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9555 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9556 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
9559 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
9560 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
9561 server that would look something like this:
9565 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
9566 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
9567 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9568 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9569 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9570 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
9573 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
9574 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
9575 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
9576 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
9579 @node Creating a Virtual Server
9580 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
9582 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
9583 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
9585 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
9586 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
9587 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
9589 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
9591 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
9592 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
9593 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
9594 will contain the following:
9604 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
9605 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
9606 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
9609 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
9610 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
9611 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
9614 @node Server Variables
9615 @subsection Server Variables
9617 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
9618 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
9619 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
9620 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
9621 won't change the "derived" variables.
9623 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
9624 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
9625 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
9626 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
9627 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
9628 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
9629 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
9630 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
9631 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
9635 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
9636 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
9637 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
9641 @node Servers and Methods
9642 @subsection Servers and Methods
9644 Wherever you would normally use a select method
9645 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
9646 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
9647 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
9651 @node Unavailable Servers
9652 @subsection Unavailable Servers
9654 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
9655 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
9656 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
9657 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
9658 actually the case or not.
9660 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
9661 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
9662 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
9663 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
9664 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
9665 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
9666 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
9667 it will regard that server as ``down''.
9669 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
9670 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
9672 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
9673 with the following commands:
9679 @findex gnus-server-open-server
9680 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
9681 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
9685 @findex gnus-server-close-server
9686 Close the connection (if any) to the server
9687 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
9691 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
9692 Mark the current server as unreachable
9693 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
9696 @kindex M-o (Server)
9697 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
9698 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
9699 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
9702 @kindex M-c (Server)
9703 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
9704 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
9705 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
9709 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
9710 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
9711 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
9717 @section Getting News
9718 @cindex reading news
9719 @cindex news backends
9721 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
9722 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
9723 or it can read from a local spool.
9726 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
9727 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
9732 @subsection @sc{nntp}
9735 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
9736 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
9737 server as the, uhm, address.
9739 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
9740 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
9741 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
9742 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9744 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
9745 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
9746 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
9748 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
9753 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
9754 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
9755 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
9757 @cindex authentification
9758 @cindex nntp authentification
9759 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9760 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
9761 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
9762 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
9763 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
9764 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
9765 present in this hook.
9767 @item nntp-authinfo-function
9768 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
9769 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9770 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
9771 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
9772 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
9773 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
9774 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
9775 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
9776 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
9777 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
9778 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
9782 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
9785 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
9786 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
9787 @samp{default} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a valid
9788 @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is the only way the
9789 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
9794 Here's an example file:
9797 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
9798 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
9801 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
9802 have to be first, for instance.
9804 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
9805 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
9806 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
9807 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
9808 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
9809 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
9810 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
9812 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
9813 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
9819 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
9820 previously mentioned.
9822 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
9824 @item nntp-server-action-alist
9825 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
9826 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
9827 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
9828 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
9831 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
9835 You probably don't want to do that, though.
9837 The default value is
9840 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
9841 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
9844 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
9845 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
9847 @item nntp-maximum-request
9848 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
9849 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
9850 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
9851 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
9852 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
9853 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
9854 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
9856 @item nntp-connection-timeout
9857 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
9858 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
9859 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
9860 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
9861 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
9862 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
9863 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
9864 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
9865 no timeouts are done.
9867 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
9868 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
9869 @c @cindex PPP connections
9870 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
9871 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
9872 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
9873 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
9874 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
9875 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
9876 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
9877 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
9878 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
9879 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
9881 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
9882 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
9883 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
9884 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
9887 @item nntp-server-hook
9888 @vindex nntp-server-hook
9889 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
9892 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
9893 @findex nntp-open-telnet
9894 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
9895 @item nntp-open-connection-function
9896 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
9897 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
9898 functions are supplied:
9901 @item nntp-open-network-stream
9902 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
9905 @item nntp-open-rlogin
9906 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
9907 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
9910 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
9914 @item nntp-rlogin-program
9915 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
9916 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
9917 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
9919 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
9920 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
9921 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
9923 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9924 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9925 User name on the remote system.
9929 @item nntp-open-telnet
9930 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
9931 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
9933 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
9936 @item nntp-telnet-command
9937 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
9938 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
9940 @item nntp-telnet-switches
9941 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
9942 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
9944 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
9945 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
9946 User name for log in on the remote system.
9948 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
9949 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
9950 Password to use when logging in.
9952 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
9953 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
9954 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
9957 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9958 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9959 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
9960 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
9962 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9963 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9964 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
9965 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
9966 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
9970 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
9971 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
9972 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
9973 you must have SSLay installed
9974 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
9975 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
9976 define a server as follows:
9979 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
9981 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
9983 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
9984 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
9985 (nntp-port-number "snews")
9986 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
9991 @item nntp-end-of-line
9992 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
9993 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
9994 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
9995 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
9997 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9998 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9999 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
10003 @vindex nntp-address
10004 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
10006 @item nntp-port-number
10007 @vindex nntp-port-number
10008 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
10011 @item nntp-buggy-select
10012 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
10013 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
10015 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
10016 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
10017 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
10018 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
10021 @item nntp-xover-commands
10022 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
10025 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
10026 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
10030 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
10031 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
10032 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
10033 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
10034 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
10035 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
10036 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
10037 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
10038 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
10039 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
10040 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
10042 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
10043 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
10044 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
10046 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10047 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10048 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
10049 server closes connection.
10051 @item nntp-record-commands
10052 @vindex nntp-record-commands
10053 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
10054 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
10055 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
10056 that doesn't seem to work.
10062 @subsection News Spool
10066 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
10067 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
10068 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
10071 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
10072 anything else) as the address.
10074 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
10075 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
10076 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
10077 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
10081 @item nnspool-inews-program
10082 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
10083 Program used to post an article.
10085 @item nnspool-inews-switches
10086 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
10087 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
10089 @item nnspool-spool-directory
10090 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
10091 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
10092 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
10094 @item nnspool-nov-directory
10095 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
10096 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
10097 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
10099 @item nnspool-lib-dir
10100 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
10101 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
10103 @item nnspool-active-file
10104 @vindex nnspool-active-file
10105 The path to the active file.
10107 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
10108 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
10109 The path to the group descriptions file.
10111 @item nnspool-history-file
10112 @vindex nnspool-history-file
10113 The path to the news history file.
10115 @item nnspool-active-times-file
10116 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
10117 The path to the active date file.
10119 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
10120 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
10121 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
10124 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10125 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10127 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
10128 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
10129 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
10135 @section Getting Mail
10136 @cindex reading mail
10139 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
10143 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
10144 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
10145 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
10146 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
10147 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
10148 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
10149 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
10150 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
10151 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
10152 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
10153 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
10154 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
10155 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
10159 @node Mail in a Newsreader
10160 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
10162 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
10163 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
10164 of a culture shock.
10166 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
10167 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
10169 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
10170 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
10171 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
10172 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
10174 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
10176 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
10177 deleted? How awful!
10179 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
10180 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
10181 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
10182 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
10185 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
10186 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
10187 they want to treat a message.
10189 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
10190 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
10191 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
10192 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
10193 archived somewhere else.
10195 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
10196 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
10197 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
10198 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
10199 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
10201 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
10202 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
10203 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
10205 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
10206 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
10209 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
10210 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
10211 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
10212 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
10213 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
10215 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
10216 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
10217 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
10218 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
10219 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
10220 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
10224 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
10225 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
10227 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
10228 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
10229 and things will happen automatically.
10231 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
10232 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
10235 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
10236 '((nnml "private")))
10239 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
10240 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
10241 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
10242 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
10243 like any other group.
10245 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
10248 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10249 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10250 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10254 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
10255 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
10256 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
10259 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
10260 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
10261 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
10264 @node Splitting Mail
10265 @subsection Splitting Mail
10266 @cindex splitting mail
10267 @cindex mail splitting
10269 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
10270 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
10271 to be split into groups.
10274 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10275 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10276 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10277 ("mail.other" "")))
10280 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
10281 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
10282 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
10283 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
10284 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
10285 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
10286 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
10289 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
10292 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
10293 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
10294 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
10295 mail belongs in that group.
10297 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
10298 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
10299 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
10300 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
10301 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
10302 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
10304 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
10305 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
10306 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
10307 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
10308 thinks should carry this mail message.
10310 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
10311 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
10312 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
10313 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
10315 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
10316 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
10317 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
10318 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
10319 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
10321 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
10324 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
10325 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
10326 links. If that's the case for you, set
10327 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
10328 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
10330 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
10331 @kindex nnmail-split-history
10332 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
10333 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
10335 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
10336 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
10337 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
10338 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
10339 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
10340 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
10341 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
10342 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
10343 month's rent money.
10347 @subsection Mail Sources
10349 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
10350 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
10354 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
10355 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
10356 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
10360 @node Mail Source Specifiers
10361 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
10363 @cindex mail server
10366 @cindex mail source
10368 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
10369 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
10374 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
10377 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
10378 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
10379 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
10382 The following mail source types are available:
10386 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
10392 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
10393 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
10396 An example file mail source:
10399 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
10402 Or using the default path:
10408 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
10409 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not you ange-ftp
10410 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
10413 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
10417 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
10420 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
10424 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
10427 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
10429 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
10432 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
10436 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
10437 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
10443 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
10447 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
10451 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
10452 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
10453 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
10454 predicate are considered.
10458 Script run before/after fetching mail.
10462 An example directory mail source:
10465 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
10470 Get mail from a POP server.
10476 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
10477 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
10480 The port number of the POP server. The default is @samp{pop3}.
10483 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
10487 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
10491 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This is should be
10492 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
10495 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
10498 The valid format specifier characters are:
10502 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
10503 included in this string.
10506 The name of the server.
10509 The port number of the server.
10512 The user name to use.
10515 The password to use.
10518 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
10519 corresponding keywords.
10522 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
10523 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
10526 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
10527 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
10530 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
10531 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
10534 @item :authentication
10535 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
10536 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
10541 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
10542 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
10544 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
10545 default user name, and default fetcher:
10551 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
10554 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
10555 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
10558 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
10561 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
10565 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
10566 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
10567 contains exactly one mail.
10573 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
10574 @samp{~/Maildir/new}.
10576 If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
10577 them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
10578 @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
10581 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
10582 from locking problems).
10586 Two example maildir mail sources:
10589 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/cur")
10593 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/new")
10597 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap} as
10598 intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for some
10599 reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server and
10600 fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox.
10606 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
10607 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
10610 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
10611 @samp{993} for SSL connections.
10614 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
10618 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
10622 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
10623 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
10624 @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{ssl} or the default @samp{network}.
10626 @item :authenticator
10627 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is one
10628 of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now, this
10629 means @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default
10633 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
10634 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
10637 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
10638 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
10639 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
10640 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
10641 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
10642 complete list of predicates, see RFC2060 §6.4.4.
10645 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{Deleted}
10646 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{Seen} which
10647 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
10648 but more flags are defined in RFC2060 §2.3.2.
10651 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
10652 after finishing the fetch.
10656 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
10659 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com" :stream kerberos4)
10663 Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
10664 mail.yahoo.com, www.netaddress.com and www.my-deja.com.
10666 NOTE: Webmail largely depends on w3 (url) package, whose version of "WWW
10667 4.0pre.46 1999/10/01" or previous ones may not work.
10669 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
10675 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
10676 alternatives are @code{yahoo}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
10679 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
10683 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
10687 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
10688 folder after finishing the fetch.
10692 An example webmail source:
10695 (webmail :subtype 'yahoo :user "user-name" :password "secret")
10700 @item Common Keywords
10701 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
10707 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged.
10712 @node Mail Source Customization
10713 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
10715 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
10716 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
10720 @item mail-source-crash-box
10721 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
10722 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
10723 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
10725 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
10726 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
10727 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
10729 @item mail-source-directory
10730 @vindex mail-source-directory
10731 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
10732 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
10733 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
10736 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
10737 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
10738 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
10743 @node Fetching Mail
10744 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
10746 @vindex mail-sources
10747 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
10748 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
10749 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
10750 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
10752 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
10753 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
10756 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
10757 mail server, you'd say something like:
10762 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
10763 :password "secret")))
10766 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
10770 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
10771 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
10774 :password "secret")))
10778 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
10779 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
10780 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
10781 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
10782 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
10783 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
10787 @node Mail Backend Variables
10788 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
10790 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
10794 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
10795 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
10796 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
10797 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
10799 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
10800 @item nnmail-split-hook
10801 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
10802 @findex RFC1522 decoding
10803 @findex RFC2047 decoding
10804 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
10805 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
10806 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
10807 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
10808 in the buffer will show up in any files.
10809 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
10812 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10813 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
10814 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10815 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
10816 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
10817 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
10818 starting to handle the new mail) and
10819 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
10820 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
10821 default file modes the new mail files get:
10824 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10825 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
10827 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
10828 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
10831 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
10832 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
10833 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
10834 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
10835 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
10836 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
10837 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
10839 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
10840 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
10841 @findex delete-file
10842 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
10844 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
10845 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
10846 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
10847 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
10848 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
10853 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
10854 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
10855 @cindex mail splitting
10856 @cindex fancy mail splitting
10858 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
10859 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
10860 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
10861 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
10862 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
10863 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
10865 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
10868 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
10869 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
10870 ;; from real errors.
10871 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
10873 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
10874 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
10875 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
10876 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
10877 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
10878 ;; Other mailing lists...
10879 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
10880 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
10881 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
10882 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
10883 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
10884 ;; message was really cross-posted.
10885 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
10886 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
10888 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
10889 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
10893 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
10894 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
10895 the five possible split syntaxes:
10900 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
10901 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
10905 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
10906 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
10907 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
10908 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
10909 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
10910 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
10911 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
10912 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
10915 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
10916 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
10917 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
10918 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
10921 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
10922 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
10925 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
10926 this message. Use with extreme caution.
10929 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
10930 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
10931 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
10932 function should return a @var{split}.
10935 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
10936 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
10937 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
10941 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
10945 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
10946 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
10947 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
10948 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
10949 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
10951 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
10952 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
10953 are expanded as specified by the variable
10954 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
10955 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
10958 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
10959 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
10960 when all this splitting is performed.
10962 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
10963 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
10964 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
10967 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
10970 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
10971 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
10973 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
10974 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
10975 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
10976 groupings 1 through 9.
10979 @node Group Mail Splitting
10980 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
10981 @cindex mail splitting
10982 @cindex group mail splitting
10984 @findex gnus-group-split
10985 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
10986 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
10987 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
10988 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
10989 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
10990 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
10991 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
10992 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
10994 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
10995 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
10996 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
10997 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
10999 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
11000 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
11001 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
11002 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
11003 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
11004 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
11005 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
11007 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
11008 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
11009 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
11010 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
11011 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
11012 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
11013 @code{gnus-group-split}.
11015 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
11016 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
11017 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
11018 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
11019 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
11020 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
11021 that group is used as the catch-all group. Note that, in this case,
11022 there's no cross-posting, as a @code{|} fancy split encloses the
11023 @code{&} split and the catch-all group.
11025 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
11030 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
11031 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
11033 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
11034 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
11035 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
11036 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
11038 ((split-spec . catch-all))
11041 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
11042 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
11043 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
11046 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
11047 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
11048 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
11052 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
11053 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
11054 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
11058 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
11061 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
11062 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
11063 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
11064 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} may be the name
11065 of a group to be used as the default catch-all group. If
11066 @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
11067 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
11068 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
11069 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
11071 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
11072 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
11073 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
11074 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
11075 used to select @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
11076 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
11077 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
11078 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
11079 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
11081 @findex gnus-group-split-update
11082 However, if you change group parameters, you have to update
11083 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
11084 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
11085 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
11086 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
11089 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
11092 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
11093 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
11094 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
11095 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional),
11096 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
11099 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
11100 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
11101 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
11102 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
11104 @node Incorporating Old Mail
11105 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
11107 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
11108 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
11109 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
11112 Doing so can be quite easy.
11114 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
11115 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
11116 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
11117 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
11118 your @code{nnml} groups.
11124 Go to the group buffer.
11127 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
11128 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11131 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
11134 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
11135 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
11138 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
11139 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
11142 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
11143 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
11144 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
11145 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
11146 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
11148 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
11149 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
11150 using the new mail backend.
11153 @node Expiring Mail
11154 @subsection Expiring Mail
11155 @cindex article expiry
11157 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
11158 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
11159 different approach to mail reading.
11161 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
11162 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
11163 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
11164 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
11165 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
11166 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
11169 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
11170 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
11171 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
11172 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
11173 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
11174 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
11175 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
11176 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
11178 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
11179 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
11180 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
11181 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
11182 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
11183 column in the summary buffer.
11185 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
11186 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
11187 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
11188 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
11191 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
11193 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
11194 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
11195 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
11198 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
11199 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
11200 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
11201 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
11202 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
11204 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
11205 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
11208 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
11209 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
11212 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
11213 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
11215 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
11216 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
11217 don't really mix very well.
11219 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
11220 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
11221 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
11222 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
11225 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
11226 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
11227 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
11228 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
11231 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
11233 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
11235 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
11237 ((string= group "mail.junk")
11239 ((string= group "important")
11245 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
11246 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
11248 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
11249 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
11250 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
11253 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
11254 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
11256 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
11257 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
11258 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
11259 easier for procmail users.
11261 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
11262 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
11263 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
11264 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
11265 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
11266 caution. Even more dangerous is the
11267 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
11268 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
11269 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
11270 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
11271 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
11272 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
11273 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
11276 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
11278 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
11279 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
11280 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
11281 auto-expire turned on.
11285 @subsection Washing Mail
11286 @cindex mail washing
11287 @cindex list server brain damage
11288 @cindex incoming mail treatment
11290 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
11291 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
11292 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
11293 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
11294 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
11295 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
11297 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
11298 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
11299 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
11302 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
11303 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
11304 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
11305 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
11308 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
11309 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
11310 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
11311 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
11312 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
11315 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
11316 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
11317 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
11318 Emacs running on MS machines.
11322 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
11323 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
11324 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
11325 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
11328 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
11329 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
11330 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
11331 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
11333 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
11334 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
11335 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
11336 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
11337 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
11338 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
11339 also be a list of regexp.
11341 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
11342 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
11345 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
11346 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
11349 This can also be done non-destructively with
11350 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
11352 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
11353 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
11354 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
11356 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
11357 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
11359 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
11360 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
11361 @code{References} headers.
11365 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
11366 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
11367 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
11371 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
11372 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
11373 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
11380 @subsection Duplicates
11382 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
11383 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
11384 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
11385 @cindex duplicate mails
11386 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
11387 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
11388 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
11389 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
11390 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
11391 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
11392 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
11393 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
11394 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
11395 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
11396 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
11397 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
11398 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
11400 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
11401 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
11402 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
11403 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
11405 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
11408 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
11409 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
11413 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
11414 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
11415 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
11416 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
11417 (any mail "mail.misc")
11424 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11425 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
11430 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
11431 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
11432 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
11433 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
11434 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
11437 @node Not Reading Mail
11438 @subsection Not Reading Mail
11440 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
11441 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
11442 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
11444 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
11445 @code{nil}, none of the backends will ever attempt to read incoming
11446 mail, which should help.
11448 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
11449 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
11450 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
11451 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
11452 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
11453 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
11454 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
11455 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
11456 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
11457 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
11458 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
11460 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
11461 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
11465 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
11466 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
11468 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
11469 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
11470 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
11472 There are five different mail backends in the standard Gnus, and more
11473 backends are available separately. The mail backend most people use
11474 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
11475 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
11478 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
11479 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
11480 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
11481 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
11482 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
11483 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
11487 @node Unix Mail Box
11488 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
11490 @cindex unix mail box
11492 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
11493 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
11494 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
11495 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
11496 which group it belongs in.
11498 Virtual server settings:
11501 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
11502 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
11503 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
11505 @item nnmbox-active-file
11506 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
11507 The name of the active file for the mail box.
11509 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
11510 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
11511 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
11517 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
11521 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
11522 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
11523 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
11524 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
11525 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
11527 Virtual server settings:
11530 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
11531 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
11532 The name of the rmail mbox file.
11534 @item nnbabyl-active-file
11535 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
11536 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
11538 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
11539 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
11540 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
11545 @subsubsection Mail Spool
11547 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
11549 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
11550 format. It should be used with some caution.
11552 @vindex nnml-directory
11553 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
11554 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
11555 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
11556 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
11558 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
11561 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
11562 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
11563 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
11564 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
11565 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
11566 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
11567 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
11568 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
11570 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
11571 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
11572 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
11573 backend when it comes to reading mail.
11575 Virtual server settings:
11578 @item nnml-directory
11579 @vindex nnml-directory
11580 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
11582 @item nnml-active-file
11583 @vindex nnml-active-file
11584 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
11586 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
11587 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
11588 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
11591 @item nnml-get-new-mail
11592 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
11593 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
11595 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
11596 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
11597 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
11599 @item nnml-nov-file-name
11600 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
11601 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
11603 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
11604 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
11605 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
11609 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
11610 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
11611 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
11612 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
11613 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
11614 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
11615 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
11620 @subsubsection MH Spool
11622 @cindex mh-e mail spool
11624 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
11625 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
11626 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
11627 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
11629 Virtual server settings:
11632 @item nnmh-directory
11633 @vindex nnmh-directory
11634 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
11636 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
11637 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
11638 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
11641 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
11642 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
11643 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
11644 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
11645 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
11646 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
11647 to set this variable to @code{t}.
11652 @subsubsection Mail Folders
11654 @cindex mbox folders
11655 @cindex mail folders
11657 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
11658 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
11659 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
11662 Virtual server settings:
11665 @item nnfolder-directory
11666 @vindex nnfolder-directory
11667 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
11669 @item nnfolder-active-file
11670 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
11671 The name of the active file.
11673 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
11674 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
11675 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
11677 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
11678 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
11679 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
11681 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
11682 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
11683 @cindex backup files
11684 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
11685 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
11686 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
11687 your @file{.emacs} file:
11690 (defun turn-off-backup ()
11691 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
11693 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
11696 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
11697 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
11698 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
11699 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
11700 extract some information from it before removing it.
11705 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
11706 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
11707 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
11708 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
11709 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
11710 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
11713 @node Comparing Mail Backends
11714 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Backends
11716 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{backend} is the common word for a
11717 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
11718 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
11719 and so selection of a suitable backend is required in order to get that
11720 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
11722 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
11723 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
11724 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
11725 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
11726 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
11727 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
11728 @code{nnspool} backends, to select between these methods, if one happens
11729 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
11732 The goal in selecting a mail backend is to pick one which
11733 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
11734 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
11735 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
11740 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
11741 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
11742 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
11743 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
11744 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
11745 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
11746 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
11747 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
11748 this backend, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
11749 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
11750 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
11751 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
11752 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
11757 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
11758 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
11759 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
11760 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
11761 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
11762 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
11763 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
11764 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
11765 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
11766 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
11767 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
11768 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
11769 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
11770 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
11772 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
11773 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
11778 @code{nnml} is the backend which smells the most as though you were
11779 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
11780 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
11781 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
11782 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
11783 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
11784 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
11785 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
11786 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
11787 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
11788 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
11789 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
11790 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
11791 provided by the active file and overviews.
11793 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
11794 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
11795 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
11796 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
11797 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
11800 It is also problematic using this backend if you are living in a
11801 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
11806 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
11807 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
11808 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
11809 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
11810 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
11811 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
11812 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
11816 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
11817 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
11818 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
11819 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
11820 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
11821 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
11822 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
11823 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
11824 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
11826 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
11827 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
11828 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
11829 friendly mail backend all over.
11834 @node Browsing the Web
11835 @section Browsing the Web
11837 @cindex browsing the web
11841 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
11842 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
11843 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
11844 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
11845 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
11846 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
11847 even know what a news group is.
11849 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
11850 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
11851 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
11852 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
11853 you mad in the end.
11855 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
11858 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of backends for providing
11859 interfaces to these sources.
11862 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
11863 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
11864 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
11865 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
11868 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
11869 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
11870 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus backend
11871 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these backends,
11872 though, you should be ok.
11874 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
11875 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
11876 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
11877 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
11878 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
11882 @subsection Web Searches
11886 @cindex InReference
11887 @cindex Usenet searches
11888 @cindex searching the Usenet
11890 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
11891 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
11892 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
11893 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
11894 searches without having to use a browser.
11896 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
11897 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
11898 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
11899 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
11900 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
11902 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
11903 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
11904 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
11905 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
11906 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
11907 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
11908 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
11909 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
11910 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
11911 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
11914 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
11915 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
11916 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
11917 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
11918 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
11919 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
11921 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
11922 to use @code{nnweb}.
11924 Virtual server variables:
11929 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
11930 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
11934 @vindex nnweb-search
11935 The search string to feed to the search engine.
11937 @item nnweb-max-hits
11938 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
11939 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
11942 @item nnweb-type-definition
11943 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
11944 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
11945 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
11950 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
11954 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
11957 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
11960 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
11964 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
11971 @subsection Slashdot
11975 Slashdot (@file{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
11976 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
11977 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
11979 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
11980 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
11983 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
11984 '((nnslashdot "")))
11987 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} backend for new comments
11988 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
11989 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
11990 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
11991 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
11994 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
11995 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11997 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
11998 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
11999 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
12000 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
12001 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
12002 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
12005 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
12008 @item nnslashdot-threaded
12009 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
12010 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
12011 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
12012 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
12013 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
12014 but much, much slower than untreaded.
12016 @item nnslashdot-login-name
12017 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
12018 The login name to use when posting.
12020 @item nnslashdot-password
12021 @vindex nnslashdot-password
12022 The password to use when posting.
12024 @item nnslashdot-directory
12025 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
12026 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default value is
12027 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
12029 @item nnslashdot-active-url
12030 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
12031 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
12032 news articles and comments. The default is
12033 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
12035 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
12036 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
12037 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
12039 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
12041 @item nnslashdot-article-url
12042 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
12043 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
12045 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
12047 @item nnslashdot-threshold
12048 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
12049 The score threshold. The default is -1.
12051 @item nnslashdot-group-number
12052 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
12053 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
12054 updated. The default is 0.
12061 @subsection Ultimate
12063 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
12065 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@file{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
12066 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
12067 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
12068 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
12070 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
12071 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
12072 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
12073 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
12074 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
12075 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
12076 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
12078 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
12081 @item nnultimate-directory
12082 @vindex nnultimate-directory
12083 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
12084 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
12088 @subsection Web Archive
12090 @cindex Web Archive
12092 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
12093 @file{http://www.egroups.com/} and
12094 @file{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
12095 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
12098 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
12099 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
12100 gnus-group-make-nnwarchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
12101 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
12102 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
12103 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
12104 backend by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
12106 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
12109 @item nnwarchive-directory
12110 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
12111 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
12112 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
12114 @item nnwarchive-login
12115 @vindex nnwarchive-login
12116 The account name on the web server.
12118 @item nnwarchive-passwd
12119 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
12120 The password for your account on the web server.
12123 @node Other Sources
12124 @section Other Sources
12126 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
12127 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
12131 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
12132 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
12133 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
12134 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
12135 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
12136 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
12140 @node Directory Groups
12141 @subsection Directory Groups
12143 @cindex directory groups
12145 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
12146 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
12149 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
12150 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
12151 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
12152 backend to read directories. Big deal.
12154 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
12155 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
12156 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
12157 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
12158 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
12160 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
12162 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
12163 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
12164 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
12165 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
12168 @node Anything Groups
12169 @subsection Anything Groups
12172 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
12173 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
12174 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
12177 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
12178 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
12179 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
12180 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
12181 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
12182 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
12183 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
12184 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
12185 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
12186 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
12189 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
12190 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
12191 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
12192 in the article buffer, just as usual.
12194 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
12195 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
12196 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
12197 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
12199 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
12200 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
12201 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
12202 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
12203 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
12204 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
12205 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
12206 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
12211 @item nneething-map-file-directory
12212 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
12213 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
12214 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
12216 @item nneething-exclude-files
12217 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
12218 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
12219 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
12221 @item nneething-include-files
12222 @vindex nneething-include-files
12223 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
12224 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
12226 @item nneething-map-file
12227 @vindex nneething-map-file
12228 Name of the map files.
12232 @node Document Groups
12233 @subsection Document Groups
12235 @cindex documentation group
12238 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
12239 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
12246 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
12251 The standard Unix mbox file.
12253 @cindex MMDF mail box
12255 The MMDF mail box format.
12258 Several news articles appended into a file.
12261 @cindex rnews batch files
12262 The rnews batch transport format.
12263 @cindex forwarded messages
12266 Forwarded articles.
12269 Netscape mail boxes.
12272 MIME multipart messages.
12274 @item standard-digest
12275 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
12278 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
12281 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
12282 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
12283 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
12286 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
12287 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
12288 group. And that's it.
12290 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
12291 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
12292 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
12293 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
12294 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
12295 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
12296 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
12297 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
12298 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
12299 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
12301 Virtual server variables:
12304 @item nndoc-article-type
12305 @vindex nndoc-article-type
12306 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
12307 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
12308 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
12309 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail} or @code{guess}.
12311 @item nndoc-post-type
12312 @vindex nndoc-post-type
12313 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
12314 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
12319 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
12323 @node Document Server Internals
12324 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
12326 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
12327 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
12328 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
12329 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
12331 First, here's an example document type definition:
12335 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
12336 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
12339 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
12340 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
12341 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
12342 types can be defined with very few settings:
12345 @item first-article
12346 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
12347 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
12350 @item article-begin
12351 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
12352 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
12354 @item head-begin-function
12355 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
12358 @item nndoc-head-begin
12359 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
12362 @item nndoc-head-end
12363 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
12364 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
12366 @item body-begin-function
12367 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
12371 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
12374 @item body-end-function
12375 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
12379 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
12382 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
12383 regexp will be totally ignored.
12387 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
12388 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
12389 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
12390 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
12391 something that's palatable for Gnus:
12394 @item prepare-body-function
12395 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
12396 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
12397 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
12399 @item article-transform-function
12400 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
12401 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
12402 body of the article.
12404 @item generate-head-function
12405 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
12406 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
12407 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
12408 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
12412 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
12417 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
12418 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
12419 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
12420 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
12421 (head-end . "^ ?$")
12422 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
12423 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
12424 (subtype digest guess))
12427 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
12428 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
12429 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
12430 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
12431 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
12433 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
12434 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
12435 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
12436 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
12437 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
12438 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
12439 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
12440 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
12441 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
12442 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
12450 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
12451 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
12452 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
12454 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
12455 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
12456 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
12459 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
12460 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
12461 that interested in doing things properly.
12463 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
12464 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
12467 First some terminology:
12472 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
12473 get news and/or mail from.
12476 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
12477 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
12480 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
12484 @item message packets
12485 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
12486 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
12487 default, where @var{x} is a number.
12489 @item response packets
12490 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
12491 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
12492 default, where @var{x} is a number.
12502 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
12503 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
12504 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
12505 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
12508 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
12511 You put the packet in your home directory.
12514 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
12515 the native or secondary server.
12518 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
12519 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
12522 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
12526 You transfer this packet to the server.
12529 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
12532 You then repeat until you die.
12536 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
12537 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
12540 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
12541 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
12542 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
12546 @node SOUP Commands
12547 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
12549 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
12553 @kindex G s b (Group)
12554 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
12555 Pack all unread articles in the current group
12556 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
12557 process/prefix convention.
12560 @kindex G s w (Group)
12561 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
12562 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
12565 @kindex G s s (Group)
12566 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
12567 Send all replies from the replies packet
12568 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
12571 @kindex G s p (Group)
12572 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
12573 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
12576 @kindex G s r (Group)
12577 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
12578 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
12581 @kindex O s (Summary)
12582 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
12583 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
12584 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
12585 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
12590 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
12595 @item gnus-soup-directory
12596 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
12597 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
12598 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
12600 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
12601 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
12602 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
12603 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
12605 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
12606 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
12607 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
12608 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
12610 @item gnus-soup-packer
12611 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
12612 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
12613 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
12615 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
12616 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
12617 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
12618 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
12620 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
12621 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
12622 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
12624 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
12625 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
12626 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
12627 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
12633 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
12636 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
12637 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
12638 you can read them at leisure.
12640 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
12644 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
12645 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
12646 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
12647 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
12649 @item nnsoup-directory
12650 @vindex nnsoup-directory
12651 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
12652 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
12654 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
12655 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
12656 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
12657 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
12659 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
12660 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
12661 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
12662 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
12663 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
12665 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
12666 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
12667 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
12668 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
12670 @item nnsoup-active-file
12671 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
12672 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
12673 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
12674 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
12675 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
12677 @item nnsoup-packer
12678 @vindex nnsoup-packer
12679 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
12680 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
12682 @item nnsoup-unpacker
12683 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
12684 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
12685 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
12687 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
12688 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
12689 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
12692 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
12693 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
12694 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
12697 @item nnsoup-always-save
12698 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
12699 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
12705 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
12707 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
12708 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
12709 more for that to happen.
12711 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
12712 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
12713 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
12716 In specific, this is what it does:
12719 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
12720 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
12723 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
12724 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
12725 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
12728 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
12729 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
12730 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
12733 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
12734 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
12735 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
12737 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
12743 @item nngateway-address
12744 @vindex nngateway-address
12745 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
12747 @item nngateway-header-transformation
12748 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
12749 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
12750 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
12751 transformation should be called, and defaults to
12752 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
12753 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
12756 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
12757 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
12758 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
12761 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
12764 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
12767 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
12770 The following pre-defined functions exist:
12772 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
12775 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
12776 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
12777 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
12779 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
12781 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
12782 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
12783 @code{nngateway-address}.
12788 (setq gnus-post-method
12789 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
12790 (nngateway-header-transformation
12791 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
12799 So, to use this, simply say something like:
12802 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
12808 @subsection @sc{imap}
12812 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
12813 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap} server
12814 is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just specify the
12815 network address of the server.
12817 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
12822 @item nnimap-address
12823 @vindex nnimap-address
12825 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
12826 server name if not specified.
12828 @item nnimap-server-port
12829 @vindex nnimap-server-port
12830 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
12832 @item nnimap-list-pattern
12833 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
12834 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
12835 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
12836 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
12837 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
12838 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
12840 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
12841 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
12842 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
12848 ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*" ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))
12851 @item nnimap-stream
12852 @vindex nnimap-stream
12853 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
12854 will use the most secure stream your server is capable of.
12858 @dfn{kerberos4:} Uses the `imtest' program.
12860 @dfn{ssl:} Uses OpenSSL or SSLeay.
12862 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
12865 @item nnimap-authenticator
12866 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
12868 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
12869 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
12873 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication.
12875 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
12877 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
12879 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
12882 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
12884 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
12885 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
12886 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
12887 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
12888 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
12889 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or
12892 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
12893 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
12894 running in circles yet?
12896 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
12897 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
12900 The possible options are:
12905 The default behaviour, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
12908 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
12909 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
12910 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
12911 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
12913 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
12920 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
12921 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
12922 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
12927 @node Splitting in IMAP
12928 @subsubsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
12929 @cindex splitting imap mail
12931 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
12932 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
12933 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
12934 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
12935 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
12939 Here are the variables of interest:
12943 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
12944 @cindex splitting, crosspost
12946 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
12948 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
12949 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
12951 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
12953 @item nnimap-split-inbox
12954 @cindex splitting, inbox
12956 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
12958 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
12959 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
12963 (setq nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
12966 No nnmail equivalent.
12968 @item nnimap-split-rule
12969 @cindex Splitting, rules
12970 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
12972 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
12975 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
12976 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
12977 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
12978 Neither did I, we need examples.
12981 (setq nnimap-split-rule
12982 '(("INBOX.nnimap" "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
12983 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
12984 ("INBOX.private" "")))
12987 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
12988 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
12989 into INBOX.spam and everything else in INBOX.private.
12991 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
12992 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
12996 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
12999 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
13000 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
13001 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
13002 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
13004 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
13005 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
13006 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
13007 of your inbox. (This might might affect performance if you keep lots of
13008 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
13009 them every time you fetch new mail.)
13011 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
13012 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
13013 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
13015 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
13016 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
13017 thinks the article should be splitted to.
13019 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it need too.
13021 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
13023 @item nnimap-split-fancy
13024 @cindex splitting, fancy
13025 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
13026 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
13028 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
13029 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
13030 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
13032 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
13033 nnimap backends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
13034 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
13035 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
13040 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
13041 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
13044 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
13048 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
13049 @subsubsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
13050 @cindex editing imap acls
13051 @cindex Access Control Lists
13052 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
13054 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
13056 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
13057 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
13058 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
13061 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
13062 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
13063 editing window with detailed instructions.
13065 Some possible uses:
13069 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
13070 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
13071 follow the list without subscribing to it.
13073 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
13074 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
13075 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
13079 @node Expunging mailboxes
13080 @subsubsection Expunging mailboxes
13084 @cindex Manual expunging
13086 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
13088 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-close},
13089 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
13090 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
13092 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
13097 @node Combined Groups
13098 @section Combined Groups
13100 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
13104 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
13105 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
13109 @node Virtual Groups
13110 @subsection Virtual Groups
13112 @cindex virtual groups
13113 @cindex merging groups
13115 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
13118 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
13119 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
13120 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
13122 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
13123 regexp to match component groups.
13125 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
13126 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
13127 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
13128 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
13129 the virtual group.)
13131 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
13132 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
13135 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
13138 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
13139 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
13141 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
13142 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
13143 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
13144 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
13147 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
13150 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
13151 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
13152 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
13154 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
13155 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
13156 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
13157 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
13158 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
13160 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
13161 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
13162 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
13164 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
13165 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
13166 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
13167 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
13168 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
13169 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
13170 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
13171 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
13172 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
13173 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
13174 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
13176 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
13177 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
13178 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
13179 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
13180 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
13181 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
13182 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
13184 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
13185 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
13189 @node Kibozed Groups
13190 @subsection Kibozed Groups
13194 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
13195 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
13196 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
13197 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
13199 @kindex G k (Group)
13200 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
13203 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
13204 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
13205 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
13206 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
13208 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
13209 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
13210 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
13212 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
13213 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
13214 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
13215 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
13216 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
13217 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
13218 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
13219 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
13221 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
13222 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
13223 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
13224 Stranger things have happened.
13226 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
13227 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
13229 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
13230 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
13231 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
13232 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
13233 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
13234 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
13236 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
13237 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
13240 @node Gnus Unplugged
13241 @section Gnus Unplugged
13246 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
13248 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
13249 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
13250 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
13251 read news. Believe it or not.
13253 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
13254 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
13255 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
13256 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
13257 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
13259 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
13260 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
13261 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
13262 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
13263 reading news on a machine.
13265 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
13269 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
13270 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
13274 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
13275 @file{.gnus.el} file:
13282 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
13284 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
13287 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
13288 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
13289 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
13290 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
13291 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
13292 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
13293 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
13294 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
13295 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
13300 @subsection Agent Basics
13302 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
13304 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
13305 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
13306 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
13307 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
13309 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
13310 connected to the net continuously.
13312 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
13313 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
13315 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
13320 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
13321 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
13322 already fetched while in this mode.
13325 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
13326 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
13327 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
13330 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
13331 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
13332 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
13333 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
13336 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
13337 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
13338 then you read the news offline.
13341 And then you go to step 2.
13344 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
13350 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
13351 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
13352 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
13353 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
13354 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
13355 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
13358 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
13365 @node Agent Categories
13366 @subsection Agent Categories
13368 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
13369 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
13370 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
13371 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
13372 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
13373 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
13374 you're interested in the articles anyway.
13376 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
13377 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
13378 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
13379 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
13380 managing categories.
13383 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
13384 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
13385 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
13389 @node Category Syntax
13390 @subsubsection Category Syntax
13392 A category consists of two things.
13396 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
13397 are eligible for downloading; and
13400 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
13401 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
13402 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
13405 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
13406 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
13407 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
13408 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
13410 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
13411 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
13412 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as descibed below.
13414 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
13415 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
13416 operators sprinkled in between.
13418 Perhaps some examples are in order.
13420 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
13421 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
13427 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
13428 short (for some value of ``short'').
13430 Here's a more complex predicate:
13439 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
13440 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
13443 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
13444 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
13445 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
13447 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
13448 you want to do, you can write your own.
13452 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
13453 lines; default 100.
13456 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
13457 lines; default 200.
13460 True iff the article has a download score less than
13461 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
13464 True iff the article has a download score greater than
13465 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
13468 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
13469 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
13470 checksum and sees whether articles match.
13479 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
13480 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
13481 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
13484 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
13485 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
13486 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
13487 something along the lines of the following:
13490 (defun my-article-old-p ()
13491 "Say whether an article is old."
13492 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
13493 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
13496 with the predicate then defined as:
13499 (not my-article-old-p)
13502 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
13503 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
13504 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
13505 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
13508 (defvar gnus-category-predicate-alist
13509 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
13510 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
13513 and simply specify your predicate as:
13519 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
13520 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
13521 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
13522 just don't give a damm.
13524 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
13525 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
13526 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
13527 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
13528 parameters like so:
13531 (agent-predicate . short)
13534 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
13535 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
13536 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
13538 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
13541 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
13544 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
13545 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
13546 predicate is assumed to be a list.
13549 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
13550 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
13551 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
13552 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
13553 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
13554 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
13556 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
13557 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
13558 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
13559 if it's to be specific to that group.
13561 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
13568 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
13569 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
13575 Category specification
13579 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
13585 Group Parameter specification
13588 (agent-score ("from"
13589 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
13594 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
13600 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
13607 Category specification
13610 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
13616 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
13620 Group Parameter specification
13623 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
13626 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
13631 Use @code{normal} score files
13633 If you dont want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
13634 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
13635 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
13636 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
13638 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
13639 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
13640 files for a group, *filtering out* those those sections that do not
13641 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
13645 Category Specification
13652 Group Parameter specification
13655 (agent-score . file)
13660 @node The Category Buffer
13661 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
13663 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
13664 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
13665 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
13667 The following commands are available in this buffer:
13671 @kindex q (Category)
13672 @findex gnus-category-exit
13673 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
13676 @kindex k (Category)
13677 @findex gnus-category-kill
13678 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
13681 @kindex c (Category)
13682 @findex gnus-category-copy
13683 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
13686 @kindex a (Category)
13687 @findex gnus-category-add
13688 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
13691 @kindex p (Category)
13692 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
13693 Edit the predicate of the current category
13694 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
13697 @kindex g (Category)
13698 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
13699 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
13700 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
13703 @kindex s (Category)
13704 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
13705 Edit the download score rule of the current category
13706 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
13709 @kindex l (Category)
13710 @findex gnus-category-list
13711 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
13715 @node Category Variables
13716 @subsubsection Category Variables
13719 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
13720 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
13721 Hook run in category buffers.
13723 @item gnus-category-line-format
13724 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
13725 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
13726 Variables}). Valid elements are:
13730 The name of the category.
13733 The number of groups in the category.
13736 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
13737 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
13738 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
13740 @item gnus-agent-short-article
13741 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
13742 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
13744 @item gnus-agent-long-article
13745 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
13746 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
13748 @item gnus-agent-low-score
13749 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
13750 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
13753 @item gnus-agent-high-score
13754 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
13755 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
13761 @node Agent Commands
13762 @subsection Agent Commands
13764 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
13765 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
13766 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
13770 * Group Agent Commands::
13771 * Summary Agent Commands::
13772 * Server Agent Commands::
13775 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
13776 following incantation:
13778 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
13780 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
13785 @node Group Agent Commands
13786 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
13790 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
13791 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
13792 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
13793 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
13796 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
13797 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
13798 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
13801 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
13802 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
13803 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
13804 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
13807 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
13808 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
13809 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
13810 (@code{gnus-group-send-drafts}). @xref{Drafts}.
13813 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
13814 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
13815 Add the current group to an Agent category
13816 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
13817 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13820 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
13821 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
13822 Remove the current group from its category, if any
13823 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
13824 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13829 @node Summary Agent Commands
13830 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
13834 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
13835 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
13836 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
13839 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
13840 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
13841 Remove the downloading mark from the article
13842 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
13845 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
13846 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
13847 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
13850 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
13851 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
13852 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
13857 @node Server Agent Commands
13858 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
13862 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
13863 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
13864 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
13865 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
13868 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
13869 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
13870 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
13871 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
13877 @subsection Agent Expiry
13879 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
13880 @findex gnus-agent-expire
13881 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
13882 @cindex Agent expiry
13883 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
13886 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
13887 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
13888 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
13889 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
13890 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
13891 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
13893 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
13894 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
13895 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
13896 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
13897 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
13900 @node Outgoing Messages
13901 @subsection Outgoing Messages
13903 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
13904 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
13905 after posting, and edit them at will.
13907 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
13908 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
13909 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
13910 messages in the draft group.
13914 @node Agent Variables
13915 @subsection Agent Variables
13918 @item gnus-agent-directory
13919 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
13920 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
13921 @file{~/News/agent/}.
13923 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
13924 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
13925 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
13926 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
13927 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
13930 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
13931 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
13932 Hook run when connecting to the network.
13934 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
13935 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
13936 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
13941 @node Example Setup
13942 @subsection Example Setup
13944 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
13945 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
13946 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
13949 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
13950 ;;; from your ISP's server.
13951 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
13953 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
13954 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
13955 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
13957 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
13958 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
13960 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
13964 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
13965 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
13968 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
13969 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
13970 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
13971 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
13972 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
13975 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
13976 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
13977 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
13978 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
13979 back all the killed groups.)
13981 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
13982 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
13983 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
13986 @node Batching Agents
13987 @subsection Batching Agents
13989 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
13990 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
13991 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
13995 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
13999 @node Agent Caveats
14000 @subsection Agent Caveats
14002 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
14003 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
14007 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
14012 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
14013 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
14019 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
14020 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
14027 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
14028 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
14029 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
14032 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
14033 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
14034 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
14035 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
14036 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
14038 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
14039 before generating the summary buffer.
14041 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
14042 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
14043 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
14045 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
14046 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
14047 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
14048 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
14051 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
14052 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
14053 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
14054 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
14055 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
14056 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
14057 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
14058 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
14059 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
14060 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
14061 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
14062 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
14063 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
14064 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
14065 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
14066 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
14070 @node Summary Score Commands
14071 @section Summary Score Commands
14072 @cindex score commands
14074 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
14075 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
14076 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
14077 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
14078 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
14080 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
14081 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
14082 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
14083 score file the current one.
14085 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
14090 @kindex V s (Summary)
14091 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
14092 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
14095 @kindex V S (Summary)
14096 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
14097 Display the score of the current article
14098 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
14101 @kindex V t (Summary)
14102 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
14103 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
14104 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
14107 @kindex V R (Summary)
14108 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
14109 Run the current summary through the scoring process
14110 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
14111 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
14112 effect you're having.
14115 @kindex V c (Summary)
14116 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
14117 Make a different score file the current
14118 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
14121 @kindex V e (Summary)
14122 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
14123 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
14124 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
14128 @kindex V f (Summary)
14129 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
14130 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
14131 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
14134 @kindex V F (Summary)
14135 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
14136 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
14137 after editing score files.
14140 @kindex V C (Summary)
14141 @findex gnus-score-customize
14142 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
14143 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
14147 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
14152 @kindex V m (Summary)
14153 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
14154 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
14155 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
14158 @kindex V x (Summary)
14159 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
14160 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
14161 expunge all articles below this score
14162 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
14165 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
14166 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
14169 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
14170 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
14174 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
14175 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
14177 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
14178 keys are available:
14182 Score on the author name.
14185 Score on the subject line.
14188 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
14191 Score on the @code{References} line.
14197 Score on the number of lines.
14200 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
14203 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
14204 the followups to this author.
14218 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
14219 what headers you are scoring on.
14231 Substring matching.
14234 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
14263 Greater than number.
14268 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
14269 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
14270 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
14274 Temporary score entry.
14277 Permanent score entry.
14280 Immediately scoring.
14285 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
14286 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
14287 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
14288 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
14290 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
14291 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
14292 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
14293 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
14294 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
14296 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
14297 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
14298 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
14299 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
14300 current score file.
14302 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
14303 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
14304 pretend they are keymaps or not.
14307 @node Group Score Commands
14308 @section Group Score Commands
14309 @cindex group score commands
14311 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
14316 @kindex W f (Group)
14317 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
14318 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
14319 all the time. This command will flush the cache
14320 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
14324 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
14326 @findex gnus-batch-score
14327 @cindex batch scoring
14329 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
14333 @node Score Variables
14334 @section Score Variables
14335 @cindex score variables
14339 @item gnus-use-scoring
14340 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
14341 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
14342 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
14344 @item gnus-kill-killed
14345 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
14346 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
14347 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
14348 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
14349 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
14350 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
14351 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
14353 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
14354 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
14355 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
14356 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
14357 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
14359 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
14360 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
14361 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
14362 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
14364 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
14365 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
14366 @cindex score cache
14367 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
14368 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
14369 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
14370 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
14371 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
14372 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
14375 @item gnus-save-score
14376 @vindex gnus-save-score
14377 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
14378 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
14379 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
14381 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
14382 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
14383 across group visits.
14385 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
14386 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
14387 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
14388 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
14389 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
14390 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
14391 manually entered data.
14393 @item gnus-summary-default-score
14394 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
14395 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
14397 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
14398 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
14399 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
14400 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
14401 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
14402 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
14404 @item gnus-score-over-mark
14405 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
14406 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
14407 default. Default is @samp{+}.
14409 @item gnus-score-below-mark
14410 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
14411 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
14412 default. Default is @samp{-}.
14414 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
14415 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
14416 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
14417 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
14419 Predefined functions available are:
14422 @item gnus-score-find-single
14423 @findex gnus-score-find-single
14424 Only apply the group's own score file.
14426 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
14427 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
14428 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
14429 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
14430 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
14431 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
14432 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
14433 then a regexp match is done.
14435 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
14436 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
14438 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
14439 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
14440 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
14441 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
14443 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
14444 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
14445 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
14446 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
14447 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
14450 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
14451 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
14452 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
14453 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
14454 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
14455 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
14458 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
14459 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
14460 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
14461 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
14462 are expired. It's 7 by default.
14464 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
14465 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
14466 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
14467 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
14468 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
14469 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
14470 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
14473 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
14474 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
14475 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
14477 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
14478 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
14479 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
14480 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
14481 threading---according to the current value of
14482 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
14483 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
14484 simplified in this manner.
14489 @node Score File Format
14490 @section Score File Format
14491 @cindex score file format
14493 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
14494 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
14495 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
14497 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
14501 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
14503 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
14505 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
14507 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
14512 (mark-and-expunge -10)
14516 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
14517 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
14518 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
14519 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
14523 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
14524 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
14526 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
14527 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
14528 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
14530 Six keys are supported by this alist:
14535 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
14536 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
14537 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
14538 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
14539 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
14540 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
14541 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
14542 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
14543 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
14544 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
14545 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
14546 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
14547 to articles that matches these score entries.
14549 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
14550 score entry has one to four elements.
14554 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
14555 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
14559 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
14560 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
14561 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
14562 is successful. If this element is not present, the
14563 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
14564 instead. This is 1000 by default.
14567 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
14568 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
14569 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
14570 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
14571 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
14574 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
14575 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
14576 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
14577 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
14580 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
14581 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
14582 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
14583 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
14584 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
14585 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
14586 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
14587 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
14588 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
14589 instead, if you feel like.
14592 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
14593 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
14595 These predicates are true if
14598 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
14601 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
14602 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
14609 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
14610 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
14611 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
14612 it's not. I think.)
14614 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
14615 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
14616 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
14617 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
14620 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
14621 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
14622 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
14623 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
14624 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
14625 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
14626 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
14630 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
14631 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
14632 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
14633 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
14634 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
14635 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
14636 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
14637 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
14640 @item Head, Body, All
14641 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
14645 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
14646 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
14647 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
14648 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
14649 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
14650 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
14651 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
14655 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
14656 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
14657 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
14658 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
14659 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
14660 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
14661 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
14662 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
14663 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
14664 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
14665 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
14669 @cindex Score File Atoms
14671 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
14672 lower than this number will be marked as read.
14675 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
14676 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
14678 @item mark-and-expunge
14679 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
14680 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
14683 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
14684 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
14685 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
14686 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
14687 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
14690 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
14691 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
14694 @item exclude-files
14695 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
14696 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
14700 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
14701 ignored when handling global score files.
14704 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
14705 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
14706 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
14707 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
14710 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
14711 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
14712 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
14713 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
14715 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
14719 (mark-and-expunge -100)
14722 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
14723 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
14724 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
14725 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
14726 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
14728 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
14729 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
14730 ordinary scoring rules.
14733 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
14734 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
14735 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
14736 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
14737 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
14738 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
14739 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
14740 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
14741 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
14742 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
14743 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
14747 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
14748 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
14749 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
14750 file for a number of groups.
14753 @cindex local variables
14754 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
14755 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
14756 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
14757 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
14758 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
14762 @node Score File Editing
14763 @section Score File Editing
14765 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
14766 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
14767 with a mode for that.
14769 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
14770 additional commands:
14775 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
14776 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
14777 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
14778 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
14781 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
14782 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
14783 Insert the current date in numerical format
14784 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
14785 you were wondering.
14788 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
14789 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
14790 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
14791 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
14792 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
14797 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
14799 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
14800 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
14802 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
14803 e} to begin editing score files.
14806 @node Adaptive Scoring
14807 @section Adaptive Scoring
14808 @cindex adaptive scoring
14810 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
14811 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
14812 stupidity, to be precise.
14814 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
14815 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
14816 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
14817 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
14818 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
14819 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
14820 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
14821 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
14822 variable to @code{(word line)}.
14824 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
14825 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
14826 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
14827 might look something like this:
14830 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
14831 '((gnus-unread-mark)
14832 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
14833 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
14834 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
14835 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
14836 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
14837 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
14838 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
14839 (gnus-ancient-mark)
14840 (gnus-low-score-mark)
14841 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
14844 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
14845 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
14846 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
14847 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
14848 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
14849 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
14852 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
14853 will be applied to each article.
14855 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
14856 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
14857 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
14858 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
14860 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
14861 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
14862 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
14863 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
14865 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
14866 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
14867 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
14868 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
14870 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
14871 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
14872 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
14873 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
14874 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
14875 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
14877 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
14878 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
14879 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
14880 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
14881 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
14882 aspirins afterwards.)
14884 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
14885 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
14886 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
14888 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
14889 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
14890 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
14892 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
14893 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
14894 let you use different rules in different groups.
14896 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
14897 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
14898 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
14901 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
14902 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
14903 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
14904 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
14905 the length of the match is less than
14906 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
14907 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
14910 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
14911 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
14912 headers. If you adapt on words, the
14913 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
14914 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
14917 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
14918 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
14919 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
14920 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
14921 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
14924 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
14925 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
14926 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
14927 score with 30 points.
14929 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
14930 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
14931 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
14932 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
14933 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
14935 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
14936 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
14937 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
14938 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
14940 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
14941 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
14942 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
14943 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
14945 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
14946 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
14947 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
14948 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
14949 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
14951 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
14952 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
14953 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
14955 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
14956 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
14957 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
14958 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
14961 @node Home Score File
14962 @section Home Score File
14964 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
14965 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
14966 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
14967 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
14969 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
14970 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
14971 could perhaps use the same home score file.
14973 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
14974 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
14979 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
14983 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
14984 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
14988 A list. The elements in this list can be:
14992 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
14993 group name, the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
14996 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
14997 the home score file.
15000 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
15003 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
15008 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
15011 (setq gnus-home-score-file
15012 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
15015 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
15016 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
15018 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
15020 (setq gnus-home-score-file
15021 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
15024 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
15025 Other functions include
15028 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
15029 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
15030 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
15031 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
15035 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
15036 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
15037 their own home score files:
15040 (setq gnus-home-score-file
15041 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
15042 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
15043 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
15044 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
15047 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
15048 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
15049 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
15050 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
15051 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
15053 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
15054 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
15055 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
15056 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
15057 precedence over this variable.
15060 @node Followups To Yourself
15061 @section Followups To Yourself
15063 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
15064 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
15065 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
15066 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
15067 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
15068 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
15072 @item gnus-score-followup-article
15073 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
15074 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
15077 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
15078 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
15079 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
15083 @vindex message-sent-hook
15084 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
15085 @code{message-sent-hook}.
15087 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
15088 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
15092 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
15093 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
15096 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
15097 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
15102 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
15106 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
15107 is system-dependent.
15111 @section Scoring Tips
15112 @cindex scoring tips
15118 @cindex scoring crossposts
15119 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
15120 the @code{Xref} header.
15122 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
15125 @item Multiple crossposts
15126 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
15127 more than, say, 3 groups:
15129 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
15132 @item Matching on the body
15133 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
15134 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
15135 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
15136 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
15137 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
15138 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
15139 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
15142 @item Marking as read
15143 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
15144 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
15145 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
15149 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
15151 @item Negated character classes
15152 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
15153 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
15154 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
15158 @node Reverse Scoring
15159 @section Reverse Scoring
15160 @cindex reverse scoring
15162 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
15163 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
15164 like this in your score file:
15168 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
15173 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
15174 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
15177 @node Global Score Files
15178 @section Global Score Files
15179 @cindex global score files
15181 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
15182 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
15183 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
15185 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
15186 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
15187 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
15189 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
15190 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
15191 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
15192 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
15193 files are applicable to which group.
15195 Say you want to use the score file
15196 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
15197 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
15200 (setq gnus-global-score-files
15201 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
15202 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
15205 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
15206 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
15207 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
15208 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
15209 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
15211 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
15212 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
15214 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
15215 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
15216 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
15217 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
15218 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
15219 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
15221 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
15227 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
15229 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
15231 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
15233 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
15234 lowered out of existence.
15236 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
15237 articles completely.
15240 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
15241 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
15242 old articles for a long time.
15245 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
15246 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
15247 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
15248 holding our breath yet?
15252 @section Kill Files
15255 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
15256 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
15257 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
15259 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
15260 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
15261 files into score files.
15263 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
15264 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
15265 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
15266 that isn't a very good idea.
15268 Normal kill files look like this:
15271 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15272 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
15276 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
15277 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
15279 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
15280 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
15283 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
15288 @kindex M-k (Summary)
15289 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
15290 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
15293 @kindex M-K (Summary)
15294 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
15295 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
15298 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
15303 @kindex M-k (Group)
15304 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
15305 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
15308 @kindex M-K (Group)
15309 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
15310 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
15313 Kill file variables:
15316 @item gnus-kill-file-name
15317 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
15318 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
15319 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
15320 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
15321 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
15322 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
15324 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
15325 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
15326 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
15327 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
15330 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
15331 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
15332 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
15333 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
15334 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
15335 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
15336 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
15337 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
15338 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
15340 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
15341 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
15342 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
15347 @node Converting Kill Files
15348 @section Converting Kill Files
15350 @cindex converting kill files
15352 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
15353 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
15354 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
15357 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
15358 You can fetch it from
15359 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
15361 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
15362 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
15363 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
15371 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
15372 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
15373 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
15375 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
15376 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
15377 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
15378 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
15379 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
15380 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
15381 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
15382 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
15386 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
15387 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
15388 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
15389 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
15393 @node Using GroupLens
15394 @subsection Using GroupLens
15396 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
15398 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
15399 better bit in town at the moment.
15401 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
15405 @item gnus-use-grouplens
15406 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
15407 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
15408 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
15410 @item grouplens-pseudonym
15411 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
15412 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
15413 with the Better Bit Bureau.
15415 @item grouplens-newsgroups
15416 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
15417 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
15421 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
15422 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
15423 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
15424 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
15425 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
15426 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
15429 @node Rating Articles
15430 @subsection Rating Articles
15432 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
15433 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
15434 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
15435 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
15438 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
15443 @kindex r (GroupLens)
15444 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
15445 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
15448 @kindex k (GroupLens)
15449 @findex grouplens-score-thread
15450 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
15451 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
15452 threads in rec.humor.
15456 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
15457 the score of the article you're reading.
15462 @kindex n (GroupLens)
15463 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
15464 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
15467 @kindex , (GroupLens)
15468 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
15469 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
15473 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
15474 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
15477 @node Displaying Predictions
15478 @subsection Displaying Predictions
15480 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
15481 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
15482 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
15483 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
15484 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
15486 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
15487 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
15488 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
15489 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
15490 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
15491 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
15492 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
15493 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
15494 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
15495 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
15496 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
15497 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
15498 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
15500 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
15501 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
15502 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
15503 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
15505 The following are valid values for that variable.
15508 @item prediction-spot
15509 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
15512 @item confidence-interval
15513 A numeric confidence interval.
15515 @item prediction-bar
15516 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
15518 @item confidence-bar
15519 Numerical confidence.
15521 @item confidence-spot
15522 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
15524 @item prediction-num
15525 Plain-old numeric value.
15527 @item confidence-plus-minus
15528 Prediction +/- confidence.
15533 @node GroupLens Variables
15534 @subsection GroupLens Variables
15538 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
15539 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
15540 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
15541 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
15544 @item grouplens-bbb-host
15545 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
15548 @item grouplens-bbb-port
15549 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
15551 @item grouplens-score-offset
15552 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
15553 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
15556 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
15557 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
15558 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
15563 @node Advanced Scoring
15564 @section Advanced Scoring
15566 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
15567 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
15568 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
15569 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
15570 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
15572 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
15576 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
15577 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
15578 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
15582 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
15583 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
15585 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
15586 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
15587 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
15588 non-@code{nil} value.
15590 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
15591 operator, and various match operators.
15598 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
15599 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
15600 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
15605 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
15606 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
15607 then this operator will return @code{false}.
15612 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
15613 logical negation of the value of its argument.
15617 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
15618 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
15619 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
15620 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
15621 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
15622 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
15623 the ancestry you want to go.
15625 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
15626 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
15627 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
15628 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
15629 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
15632 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
15633 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
15635 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
15636 when he's talking about Gnus:
15640 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15641 ("subject" "Gnus"))
15647 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
15651 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15658 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
15659 really don't want to read what he's written:
15663 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15664 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
15668 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
15669 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
15670 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
15677 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
15678 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
15679 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
15680 ("body" "white.*socks"))
15684 The possibilities are endless.
15687 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
15688 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
15690 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
15691 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
15692 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
15693 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
15694 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
15695 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
15696 @samp{subject}) first.
15698 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
15699 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
15710 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
15711 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
15717 ("subject" "Gnus")))
15724 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
15725 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
15730 @section Score Decays
15731 @cindex score decays
15734 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
15735 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
15736 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
15737 use them in any sensible way.
15739 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
15740 @findex gnus-decay-score
15741 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
15742 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
15743 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
15744 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
15745 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
15746 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
15747 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
15748 definition of that function:
15751 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
15753 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
15754 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
15757 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
15759 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
15761 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
15764 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
15765 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
15766 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
15767 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
15771 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
15774 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
15777 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
15781 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
15782 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
15783 the new score, which should be an integer.
15785 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
15786 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
15793 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
15794 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
15795 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
15796 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
15797 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
15798 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
15799 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
15800 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
15801 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
15802 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
15803 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
15804 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
15805 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
15806 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
15807 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
15808 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
15809 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
15810 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
15814 @node Process/Prefix
15815 @section Process/Prefix
15816 @cindex process/prefix convention
15818 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
15819 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
15821 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
15822 command to be performed on.
15826 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
15827 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
15828 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
15829 with the current one.
15831 @vindex transient-mark-mode
15832 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
15833 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
15835 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
15836 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
15839 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
15840 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
15842 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
15845 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
15846 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
15847 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
15848 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
15850 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
15851 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
15852 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
15853 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
15854 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
15855 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
15856 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
15857 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
15861 @section Interactive
15862 @cindex interaction
15866 @item gnus-novice-user
15867 @vindex gnus-novice-user
15868 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
15869 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
15870 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
15871 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
15874 @item gnus-expert-user
15875 @vindex gnus-expert-user
15876 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
15877 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
15878 matter how strange.
15880 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
15881 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
15882 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
15883 is @code{t} by default.
15885 @item gnus-interactive-exit
15886 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
15887 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
15892 @node Symbolic Prefixes
15893 @section Symbolic Prefixes
15894 @cindex symbolic prefixes
15896 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
15897 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
15898 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
15899 rule of 900 to the current article.
15901 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
15902 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
15903 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
15904 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
15905 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
15906 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
15907 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
15909 @kindex M-i (Summary)
15910 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
15911 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
15912 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
15913 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
15914 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
15915 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
15916 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
15917 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
15919 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
15920 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
15921 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
15923 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
15927 @node Formatting Variables
15928 @section Formatting Variables
15929 @cindex formatting variables
15931 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
15932 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
15933 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
15934 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
15935 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
15938 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
15939 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
15940 lots of percentages everywhere.
15943 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
15944 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
15945 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
15946 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
15947 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
15950 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
15951 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
15952 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
15953 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
15954 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
15955 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
15956 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
15957 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
15959 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
15960 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
15962 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
15963 @findex gnus-update-format
15964 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
15965 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
15966 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
15967 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
15971 @node Formatting Basics
15972 @subsection Formatting Basics
15974 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
15975 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
15976 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
15978 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
15979 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
15980 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
15981 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
15982 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
15985 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
15986 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
15987 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
15988 less than 4 characters wide.
15991 @node Mode Line Formatting
15992 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
15994 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
15995 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
15996 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
15997 with the following two differences:
16002 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
16005 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
16006 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
16007 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
16008 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
16009 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
16010 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
16011 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
16016 @node Advanced Formatting
16017 @subsection Advanced Formatting
16019 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
16020 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
16021 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
16022 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
16024 These are the valid modifiers:
16029 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
16033 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
16038 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
16041 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
16046 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
16049 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
16052 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
16055 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
16059 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
16060 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
16061 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
16062 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
16063 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
16064 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
16065 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
16067 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
16068 last operation, padding.
16070 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
16071 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
16072 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
16073 @xref{Compilation}.
16076 @node User-Defined Specs
16077 @subsection User-Defined Specs
16079 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
16080 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
16081 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
16082 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
16083 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
16084 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
16085 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
16086 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
16087 should protect against that.
16089 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
16090 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
16091 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
16092 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
16096 @node Formatting Fonts
16097 @subsection Formatting Fonts
16099 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
16100 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
16101 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
16102 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
16105 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
16106 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
16107 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
16108 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
16109 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
16110 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
16112 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
16113 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
16114 say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
16115 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
16116 naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
16117 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
16118 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
16119 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
16121 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
16124 ;; Create three face types.
16125 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
16126 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
16128 ;; We want the article count to be in
16129 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
16130 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
16131 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
16133 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
16134 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
16136 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
16137 (setq gnus-group-line-format
16138 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
16141 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
16142 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
16144 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
16145 mode-line variables.
16148 @node Windows Configuration
16149 @section Windows Configuration
16150 @cindex windows configuration
16152 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
16154 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
16155 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
16156 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
16157 @code{t} by default.
16159 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
16160 glitches. Use at your own peril.
16162 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
16163 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
16164 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
16167 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
16168 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
16169 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
16173 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
16174 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
16175 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
16176 possible names is listed below.
16178 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
16179 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
16182 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
16186 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
16187 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
16188 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
16189 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
16190 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
16191 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
16192 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
16193 size spec per split.
16195 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
16196 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
16197 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
16198 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
16199 present) gets focus.
16201 Here's a more complicated example:
16204 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
16205 (summary 0.25 point)
16206 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
16210 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
16211 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
16212 occupy, not a percentage.
16214 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
16215 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
16216 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
16217 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
16218 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
16221 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
16224 (article (horizontal 1.0
16229 (summary 0.25 point)
16234 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
16235 @code{horizontal} thingie?
16237 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
16238 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
16239 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
16240 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
16241 the screen is to be given to this strip.
16243 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
16244 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
16245 lines from the splits.
16247 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
16251 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
16252 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
16253 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
16254 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
16255 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
16256 size = number | frame-params
16257 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
16260 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
16261 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
16262 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
16263 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
16265 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
16266 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
16267 @cindex window height
16268 @cindex window width
16269 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
16270 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
16271 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
16272 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
16273 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
16274 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
16276 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
16277 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
16278 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
16279 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
16281 @findex gnus-configure-frame
16282 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
16283 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
16284 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
16285 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
16286 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
16287 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
16288 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
16289 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
16290 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
16291 configuration list.
16294 (gnus-configure-frame
16298 (article 0.3 point))
16306 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
16307 @code{frame} split:
16310 (gnus-configure-frame
16313 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
16315 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
16316 (user-position . t)
16317 (left . -1) (top . 1))
16322 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
16323 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
16324 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
16325 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
16326 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
16327 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
16328 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
16329 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
16331 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
16332 be found in its default value.
16334 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
16335 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
16336 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
16340 (message (horizontal 1.0
16341 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
16343 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
16348 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
16349 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
16350 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
16353 (message (frame 1.0
16354 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
16355 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
16356 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
16357 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
16358 (name . "Message"))
16359 (message 1.0 point))))
16362 @findex gnus-add-configuration
16363 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
16364 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
16365 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
16366 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
16369 (gnus-add-configuration
16370 '(article (vertical 1.0
16372 (summary .25 point)
16376 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
16377 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
16378 Gnus has been loaded.
16380 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
16381 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
16382 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
16383 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
16384 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
16386 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
16387 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
16388 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
16392 @node Faces and Fonts
16393 @section Faces and Fonts
16398 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
16399 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
16400 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
16405 @section Compilation
16406 @cindex compilation
16407 @cindex byte-compilation
16409 @findex gnus-compile
16411 Remember all those line format specification variables?
16412 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
16413 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
16414 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
16415 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
16416 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
16419 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
16420 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
16421 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
16422 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
16423 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
16424 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
16425 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
16429 @section Mode Lines
16432 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
16433 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
16434 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
16435 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
16436 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
16437 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
16438 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
16441 @cindex display-time
16443 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
16444 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
16445 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
16446 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
16447 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
16448 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
16449 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
16450 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
16453 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
16455 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
16456 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
16458 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
16459 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
16460 (length display-time-string)))))
16463 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
16464 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
16465 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
16466 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
16467 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
16470 @node Highlighting and Menus
16471 @section Highlighting and Menus
16473 @cindex highlighting
16476 @vindex gnus-visual
16477 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
16478 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
16479 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
16482 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
16483 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
16486 @item group-highlight
16487 Do highlights in the group buffer.
16488 @item summary-highlight
16489 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
16490 @item article-highlight
16491 Do highlights in the article buffer.
16493 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
16495 Create menus in the group buffer.
16497 Create menus in the summary buffers.
16499 Create menus in the article buffer.
16501 Create menus in the browse buffer.
16503 Create menus in the server buffer.
16505 Create menus in the score buffers.
16507 Create menus in all buffers.
16510 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
16511 buffers, you could say something like:
16514 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
16517 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
16520 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
16523 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
16524 in all Gnus buffers.
16526 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
16529 @item gnus-mouse-face
16530 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
16531 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
16532 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
16536 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
16540 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
16541 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
16542 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
16544 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
16545 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
16546 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
16548 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
16549 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
16550 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
16552 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
16553 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
16554 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
16556 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
16557 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
16558 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
16560 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
16561 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
16562 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
16573 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
16574 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
16575 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
16576 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
16577 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
16581 @vindex gnus-carpal
16582 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
16583 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
16584 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
16589 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
16590 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
16591 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
16593 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
16594 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
16595 Face used on buttons.
16597 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
16598 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
16599 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
16601 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
16602 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
16603 Buttons in the group buffer.
16605 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
16606 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
16607 Buttons in the summary buffer.
16609 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
16610 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
16611 Buttons in the server buffer.
16613 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
16614 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
16615 Buttons in the browse buffer.
16618 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
16619 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
16620 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
16628 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
16629 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
16630 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
16631 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
16632 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
16634 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
16635 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
16636 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
16638 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
16639 been idle for thirty minutes:
16642 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
16645 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
16649 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
16652 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
16653 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
16654 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
16656 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
16657 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
16658 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
16659 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
16661 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
16662 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
16663 @var{idle} minutes.
16665 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
16666 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
16669 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
16670 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
16671 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
16673 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
16674 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
16675 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
16676 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
16678 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
16679 your @file{.gnus} file:
16681 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
16683 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
16686 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
16687 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
16688 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
16689 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
16690 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
16691 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
16692 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
16693 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
16694 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
16695 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
16696 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
16698 @findex gnus-demon-init
16699 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
16700 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
16701 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
16702 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
16703 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
16705 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
16706 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
16707 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
16716 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
16717 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
16719 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
16720 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
16721 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
16722 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
16725 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
16726 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
16727 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
16728 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
16730 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
16731 this will make spam disappear.
16733 There are some variables to customize, of course:
16736 @item gnus-use-nocem
16737 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
16738 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
16741 @item gnus-nocem-groups
16742 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
16743 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
16744 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
16745 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
16747 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
16748 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
16749 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
16750 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
16751 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
16752 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
16753 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
16755 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
16758 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
16759 @cindex Chris Lewis
16760 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
16761 usenet abuse than anybody else.
16764 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
16765 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
16766 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
16768 @item jem@@xpat.com;
16770 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
16773 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
16774 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
16775 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
16778 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
16779 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
16780 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
16781 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
16782 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
16783 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
16784 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
16785 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
16786 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
16787 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
16789 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
16790 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
16793 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
16796 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
16797 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
16800 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
16803 The specs are applied left-to-right.
16806 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
16807 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
16809 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
16810 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
16811 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
16812 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
16814 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
16815 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
16818 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
16820 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
16828 This might be dangerous, though.
16830 @item gnus-nocem-directory
16831 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
16832 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
16833 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
16835 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
16836 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
16837 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
16838 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
16839 might then see old spam.
16843 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
16844 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
16845 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
16846 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
16853 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
16854 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
16855 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
16857 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
16858 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
16859 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
16860 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
16861 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
16862 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
16863 @code{undo} function.
16865 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
16866 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
16867 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
16868 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
16869 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
16870 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
16871 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
16872 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
16873 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
16874 never be totally undoable.
16876 @findex gnus-undo-mode
16877 @vindex gnus-use-undo
16879 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
16880 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
16881 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
16882 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
16887 @section Moderation
16890 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
16891 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
16892 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
16895 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
16899 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
16902 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
16904 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
16909 You split your incoming mail by matching on
16910 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
16911 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
16914 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
16915 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
16918 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
16919 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
16923 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
16926 (setq gnus-moderated-list
16927 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
16931 @node XEmacs Enhancements
16932 @section XEmacs Enhancements
16935 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
16939 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
16940 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
16941 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
16942 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
16955 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
16956 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
16957 over your shoulder as you read news.
16960 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
16961 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
16962 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
16963 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
16964 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
16969 @subsubsection Picon Basics
16971 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
16980 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
16981 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
16982 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
16983 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
16984 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
16985 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
16986 @code{GIF} formats.
16989 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
16990 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
16991 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
16992 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
16993 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
16995 @vindex gnus-picons-database
16996 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
16997 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
16998 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
16999 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
17000 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
17003 @node Picon Requirements
17004 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
17006 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
17007 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
17010 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
17011 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
17012 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
17014 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17015 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
17016 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
17017 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
17018 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
17022 @subsubsection Easy Picons
17024 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
17025 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
17028 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
17029 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
17032 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
17033 containing the Picons databases.
17035 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
17038 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17039 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
17044 @subsubsection Hard Picons
17052 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
17053 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
17054 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
17055 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
17056 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
17061 @item gnus-picons-database
17062 @vindex gnus-picons-database
17063 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
17064 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
17065 subdirectories. This is only useful if
17066 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
17067 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
17069 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17070 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17071 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
17072 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
17073 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
17074 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
17075 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
17077 @item gnus-picons-display-where
17078 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
17079 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
17080 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
17081 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
17082 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
17083 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
17084 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
17086 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
17087 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
17088 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
17093 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
17094 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
17096 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
17097 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
17100 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
17102 @item gnus-article-display-picons
17103 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
17104 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
17105 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
17107 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
17108 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
17109 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
17115 @node Picon Useless Configuration
17116 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
17124 The following variables offer further control over how things are
17125 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
17126 don't need to worry about.
17130 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
17131 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
17132 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
17133 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
17135 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
17136 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
17137 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
17138 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
17140 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
17141 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
17142 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
17143 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
17144 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
17146 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17147 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17148 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
17149 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
17150 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
17151 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
17152 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
17154 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
17155 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
17156 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
17157 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
17159 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
17160 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
17161 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
17162 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
17163 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
17164 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
17165 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
17167 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
17168 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
17169 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
17170 Defaults to @code{nil}.
17172 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
17173 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
17174 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
17175 Defaults to @code{t}.
17177 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
17178 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
17179 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
17180 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
17182 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
17183 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
17184 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
17186 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
17187 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
17188 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
17189 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
17191 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
17192 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the defailt.
17194 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
17195 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
17196 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
17197 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
17198 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
17199 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
17200 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
17201 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
17212 @subsection Smileys
17217 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
17222 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
17223 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
17225 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
17226 @file{.gnus.el} file:
17229 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
17232 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
17233 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
17234 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
17235 text and maps that to file names.
17237 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
17238 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
17239 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
17240 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
17241 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
17242 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
17244 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
17245 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
17247 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
17248 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
17249 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
17251 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
17252 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
17256 @item smiley-data-directory
17257 @vindex smiley-data-directory
17258 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
17260 @item smiley-flesh-color
17261 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
17262 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
17264 @item smiley-features-color
17265 @vindex smiley-features-color
17266 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
17268 @item smiley-tongue-color
17269 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
17270 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
17272 @item smiley-circle-color
17273 @vindex smiley-circle-color
17274 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
17276 @item smiley-mouse-face
17277 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
17278 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
17284 @subsection Toolbar
17294 @item gnus-use-toolbar
17295 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
17296 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
17297 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
17298 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
17300 @item gnus-group-toolbar
17301 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
17302 The toolbar in the group buffer.
17304 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
17305 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
17306 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
17308 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
17309 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
17310 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
17316 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
17319 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
17320 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
17321 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
17322 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
17323 unusual directory structure.
17325 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
17326 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
17327 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
17328 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
17330 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
17331 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
17332 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
17333 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
17334 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
17335 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
17337 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
17338 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
17339 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
17353 @node Fuzzy Matching
17354 @section Fuzzy Matching
17355 @cindex fuzzy matching
17357 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
17358 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
17360 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
17361 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
17362 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
17364 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
17365 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
17366 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
17367 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
17368 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
17371 @node Thwarting Email Spam
17372 @section Thwarting Email Spam
17376 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
17378 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
17379 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
17380 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
17381 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
17382 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
17383 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
17384 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
17385 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
17388 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
17389 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
17390 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
17391 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
17392 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
17393 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
17397 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
17398 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
17400 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
17401 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
17402 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
17403 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
17404 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
17405 part of the mail address.)
17408 (setq message-default-news-headers
17409 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
17412 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
17413 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
17418 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
17419 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
17420 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
17426 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
17427 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
17428 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
17429 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
17431 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
17432 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
17433 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
17434 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
17435 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
17436 your fancy split rule in this way:
17441 (to "larsi" "misc")
17445 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
17446 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
17447 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
17448 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
17449 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
17451 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
17452 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
17453 at @* @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
17454 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
17455 cosmic balance somewhat.
17457 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
17458 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
17459 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
17460 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
17463 @node Various Various
17464 @section Various Various
17470 @item gnus-home-directory
17471 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
17472 defaults to @file{~/}.
17474 @item gnus-directory
17475 @vindex gnus-directory
17476 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
17477 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
17478 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
17480 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
17481 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
17482 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
17483 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
17485 @item gnus-default-directory
17486 @vindex gnus-default-directory
17487 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
17488 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
17489 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
17490 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
17491 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
17492 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
17495 @vindex gnus-verbose
17496 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
17497 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
17498 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
17499 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
17500 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
17502 @item gnus-verbose-backends
17503 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
17504 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
17505 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
17507 @item nnheader-max-head-length
17508 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
17509 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
17510 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
17511 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
17512 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
17513 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
17514 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
17515 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
17516 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
17518 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
17519 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
17520 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
17521 read when doing the operation described above.
17523 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
17524 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
17526 @cindex invalid characters in file names
17527 @cindex characters in file names
17528 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
17529 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
17530 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
17533 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
17537 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
17538 Windows (phooey) systems.
17540 @item gnus-hidden-properties
17541 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
17542 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
17543 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
17544 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
17546 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
17547 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
17548 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
17549 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
17550 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
17552 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
17553 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
17554 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
17563 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
17564 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
17566 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
17568 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
17574 Not because of victories @*
17577 but for the common sunshine,@*
17579 the largess of the spring.
17583 but for the day's work done@*
17584 as well as I was able;@*
17585 not for a seat upon the dais@*
17586 but at the common table.@*
17591 @chapter Appendices
17594 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
17595 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
17596 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
17597 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
17598 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
17599 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
17600 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
17601 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
17609 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
17610 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
17612 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
17613 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
17614 @file{http://quimby.gnus.org/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
17615 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
17616 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
17618 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
17619 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
17620 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
17621 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
17622 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
17623 appropriate name, don't you think?)
17625 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
17626 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
17627 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
17628 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
17631 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
17632 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
17633 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
17634 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
17635 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
17636 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
17637 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
17638 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
17639 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
17640 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
17644 @node Gnus Versions
17645 @subsection Gnus Versions
17646 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
17648 @cindex September Gnus
17649 @cindex Quassia Gnus
17651 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
17652 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
17653 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
17655 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
17656 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
17658 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
17659 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
17661 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
17662 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
17664 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
17665 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
17668 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
17669 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
17670 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
17671 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
17672 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
17676 @node Other Gnus Versions
17677 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
17680 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
17681 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
17682 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
17683 @sc{mime} capabilities.
17685 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
17686 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
17687 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
17688 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
17695 What's the point of Gnus?
17697 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
17698 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
17699 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
17700 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
17701 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
17702 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
17703 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
17704 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
17705 keep track of millions of people who post?
17707 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
17708 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
17709 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
17710 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
17711 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
17712 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
17713 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
17714 every one of you to explore and invent.
17716 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
17717 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
17720 @node Compatibility
17721 @subsection Compatibility
17723 @cindex compatibility
17724 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
17725 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
17726 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
17731 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
17735 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
17738 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
17741 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
17742 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
17743 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
17744 important variables have their values copied into their global
17745 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
17746 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
17748 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
17749 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
17750 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
17751 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
17752 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
17756 @cindex highlighting
17757 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
17758 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
17759 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
17760 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
17761 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
17762 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
17765 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
17766 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
17767 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
17768 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
17770 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
17771 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
17772 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
17773 to stop doing it the old way.
17775 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
17777 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
17779 @cindex reporting bugs
17781 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
17782 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
17783 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
17785 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
17786 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
17787 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
17788 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
17793 @subsection Conformity
17795 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
17796 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
17803 There are no known breaches of this standard.
17807 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
17809 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
17810 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
17811 We do have some breaches to this one.
17817 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
17818 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
17819 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
17820 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
17821 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
17826 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
17827 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
17828 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
17829 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
17833 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
17834 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
17839 @subsection Emacsen
17845 Gnus should work on :
17853 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
17857 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
17858 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
17861 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
17862 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
17863 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
17867 @node Gnus Development
17868 @subsection Gnus Development
17870 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
17871 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
17872 propose changes and new features, post patches and new backends. This
17873 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
17874 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
17875 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
17876 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
17877 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
17879 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
17880 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
17881 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
17882 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
17883 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
17886 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
17887 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
17888 In particular, @code{nnmail-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
17889 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
17890 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
17892 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
17893 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
17894 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
17895 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
17896 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
17897 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
17898 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
17899 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
17900 usually keep up with these rapid changes, whille people on the newsgroup
17901 can't be assumed to do so.
17906 @subsection Contributors
17907 @cindex contributors
17909 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
17910 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
17911 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
17912 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
17913 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
17914 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
17915 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
17916 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
17917 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
17918 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
17920 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
17926 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
17929 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
17930 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
17931 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
17932 functionality and stuff.
17935 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
17936 well as numerous other things).
17939 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
17942 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
17945 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
17948 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
17949 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
17952 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
17955 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
17956 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
17959 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
17962 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
17965 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
17968 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
17971 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
17972 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
17975 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
17978 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
17981 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
17984 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
17988 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
17991 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
17994 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
17997 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
17998 well as autoconf support.
18002 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
18003 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
18005 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
18014 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
18018 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
18028 Alexei V. Barantsev,
18043 Massimo Campostrini,
18048 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
18049 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
18053 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
18056 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
18062 Michael Welsh Duggan,
18067 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
18071 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
18079 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
18081 Michelangelo Grigni,
18085 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
18087 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
18089 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
18096 François Felix Ingrand,
18097 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
18098 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
18100 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
18111 Peter Skov Knudsen,
18112 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
18114 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
18115 Thor Kristoffersen,
18118 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
18136 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
18137 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
18144 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
18149 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
18153 John McClary Prevost,
18159 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
18164 Christian von Roques,
18167 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
18174 Philippe Schnoebelen,
18176 Randal L. Schwartz,
18190 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
18195 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
18211 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
18216 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
18217 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
18218 (550kB and counting).
18220 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
18223 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
18224 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
18228 @subsection New Features
18229 @cindex new features
18232 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
18233 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
18234 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
18235 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
18238 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
18239 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
18240 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
18244 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
18246 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
18251 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
18252 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
18255 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
18256 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
18259 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
18262 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
18263 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
18264 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
18267 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
18268 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
18269 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
18270 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
18273 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
18274 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
18277 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
18278 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
18279 (@pxref{The Active File}).
18282 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
18283 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
18286 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
18287 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
18288 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
18291 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
18292 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
18293 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
18296 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
18297 the @file{.emacs} file.
18300 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
18301 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18304 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
18305 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
18308 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
18309 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
18312 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
18313 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
18316 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
18317 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
18320 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
18323 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
18324 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
18327 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
18328 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
18331 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
18332 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
18335 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
18338 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
18339 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
18342 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
18346 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
18350 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
18351 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
18354 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
18360 @node September Gnus
18361 @subsubsection September Gnus
18365 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
18369 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
18374 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
18375 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
18379 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
18380 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
18384 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
18388 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
18389 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
18392 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
18396 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
18399 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
18402 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
18405 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
18409 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
18410 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
18413 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
18417 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
18421 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
18425 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
18429 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
18432 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
18433 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
18436 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
18440 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
18441 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
18444 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
18447 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
18448 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
18449 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
18452 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
18456 The Gnus cache is much faster.
18459 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
18463 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
18464 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
18467 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
18468 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
18471 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
18472 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
18475 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
18476 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
18477 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
18480 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
18481 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
18484 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
18487 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
18490 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
18493 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
18496 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
18497 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
18500 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
18504 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
18507 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
18512 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
18515 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
18519 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
18522 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
18526 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
18529 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
18532 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
18533 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
18536 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
18537 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
18541 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
18542 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
18545 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
18549 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
18550 buffer to allow easier treatment.
18553 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
18556 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
18560 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
18564 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
18565 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
18568 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
18572 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
18573 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
18576 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
18577 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
18580 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
18584 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
18587 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
18590 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
18596 @subsubsection Red Gnus
18598 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
18602 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
18609 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
18612 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
18613 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
18616 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
18617 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
18621 Article washing status can be displayed in the
18622 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
18625 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
18628 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
18629 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
18632 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
18636 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
18637 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
18641 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
18642 Server Internals}).
18645 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
18649 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
18652 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
18653 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
18656 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
18657 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
18658 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
18661 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
18662 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
18665 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
18666 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
18669 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
18673 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
18674 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
18677 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
18678 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
18681 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
18685 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
18688 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
18692 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
18693 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
18696 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
18697 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
18700 A new command for reading collections of documents
18701 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
18702 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
18705 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
18709 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
18710 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
18713 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
18714 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
18715 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
18718 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
18719 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
18723 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
18727 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
18731 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
18736 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
18740 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
18744 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
18745 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
18748 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
18754 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
18756 New features in Gnus 5.6:
18761 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
18762 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
18763 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
18766 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
18767 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
18768 group, which is created automatically.
18771 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
18775 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
18778 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
18779 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
18782 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
18786 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
18789 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
18790 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
18793 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
18796 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
18797 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
18800 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
18801 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
18804 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
18805 control over simplification.
18808 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
18811 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
18815 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
18818 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
18821 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
18822 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
18823 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
18826 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
18827 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
18830 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
18834 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
18835 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
18838 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
18839 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
18842 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
18846 A history of where mails have been split is available.
18849 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
18852 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
18853 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
18856 A new function for citing in Message has been
18857 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
18860 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
18863 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
18867 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
18868 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
18871 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
18872 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
18875 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
18878 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
18883 @node Newest Features
18884 @subsection Newest Features
18887 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
18890 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
18892 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
18893 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
18896 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
18901 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
18902 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
18905 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
18908 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
18911 facep is not declared.
18914 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
18915 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
18918 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
18923 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
18924 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
18925 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
18926 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
18927 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
18928 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
18929 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
18934 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
18937 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
18940 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
18942 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
18943 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
18945 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
18947 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
18949 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
18950 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
18952 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
18954 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
18955 be marked as unread.
18957 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
18959 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
18961 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
18962 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
18964 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
18966 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
18968 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
18969 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
18971 topics that contain just groups with ticked
18972 articles aren't displayed.
18974 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
18976 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
18977 make the mail groups killed.
18979 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
18981 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
18982 and articles have to be removed.
18984 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
18987 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
18989 finding short score file names takes forever.
18991 canceling articles in foreign groups.
18993 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
18995 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
18997 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
18999 nnweb doesn't work properly.
19001 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
19003 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
19004 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
19008 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
19010 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
19011 bar and the Gnus bar.
19014 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
19015 `(canonize-message-id id)'
19016 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
19017 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
19018 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
19019 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
19024 nnml .overview directory with splits.
19028 postponed commands.
19030 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
19032 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
19035 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
19036 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
19038 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
19039 inherit copy prompts and save files.
19041 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
19043 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
19044 for backends that support that.
19046 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
19048 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
19049 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
19051 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
19052 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
19054 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
19056 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
19058 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
19060 server mode command: close/open all connections
19062 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
19063 has been changed before using it.
19065 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
19067 hide (sub)threads with low score.
19069 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
19071 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
19073 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
19074 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
19076 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
19077 contain groups that match a regexp.
19079 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
19082 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
19085 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
19086 from subject lines.
19088 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
19090 nntp-ping-before-connect
19092 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
19094 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
19095 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
19097 message annotations.
19099 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
19101 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
19102 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
19104 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
19109 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
19111 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
19113 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
19115 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
19116 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
19118 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
19120 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
19122 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
19123 finds and generate proper active ranges.
19125 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
19126 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
19128 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
19130 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
19132 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
19133 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
19135 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
19137 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
19139 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
19140 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
19143 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
19145 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
19147 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
19148 `C-c C-c' when posting.
19150 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
19153 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
19154 should be marker as expirable.
19156 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
19158 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
19159 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
19161 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
19162 Also consult Date headers.
19164 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
19166 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
19168 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
19169 Message-ID, delete the "original".
19171 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
19172 into a See-Also header.
19174 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
19176 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
19178 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
19179 should be listed as such and not as "K".
19181 generate font names dynamically.
19183 score file mode auto-alist.
19185 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
19186 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
19188 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
19189 absolutely all headers there is.
19191 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
19192 and pipe them to the process.
19194 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
19195 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
19196 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
19198 function for starting to edit a file to put into
19199 the current mail group.
19201 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
19203 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
19204 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
19206 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
19207 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
19209 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
19211 when replying to several process-marked articles,
19212 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
19214 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
19215 groups it has been mailed to.
19217 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
19219 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
19221 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
19223 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
19224 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
19226 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
19227 newlines) should be ignored.
19229 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
19230 groups in subtopics as well.
19232 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
19234 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
19237 add edit and forward secondary marks.
19239 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
19241 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
19243 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
19245 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
19247 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
19249 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
19250 or the formatted article.
19252 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
19254 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
19255 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
19257 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
19259 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
19261 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
19263 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
19264 even unread articles.
19266 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
19268 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
19270 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
19272 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
19274 canceling articles in foreign groups.
19276 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
19279 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
19280 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
19282 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
19283 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
19285 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
19287 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
19289 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
19290 from a particular server? Hm.
19292 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
19293 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
19295 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
19297 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
19298 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
19300 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
19301 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
19303 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
19304 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
19305 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
19308 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
19309 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
19311 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
19313 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
19315 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
19317 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
19320 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
19323 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
19324 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
19326 command to show and edit group scores
19328 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
19331 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
19333 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
19335 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
19336 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
19339 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
19340 that are of that length.
19342 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
19344 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
19346 asynchronous posting under nntp.
19348 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
19350 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
19352 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
19354 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
19355 a score lower than this number.
19357 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
19359 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
19361 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
19362 so that each copy can be edited separately.
19364 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
19366 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
19367 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
19369 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
19372 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
19373 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
19374 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
19375 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
19377 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
19380 command to remove all topic stuff.
19382 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
19383 and splitting the resulting digests.
19385 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
19387 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
19389 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
19390 matches an alist -- before saving.
19392 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
19394 variable to activate each group before entering them
19395 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
19397 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
19398 starting Gnus first if necessary.
19400 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
19401 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
19403 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
19405 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
19406 of several groups at once.
19408 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
19409 matches some regexp(s).
19411 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
19413 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
19415 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
19417 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
19419 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
19421 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
19423 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
19425 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
19426 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
19427 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
19428 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
19430 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
19431 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
19433 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
19435 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
19436 recently cited text.
19438 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
19440 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
19443 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
19444 server and just read the articles in the server
19446 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
19447 value of nnoo variables.
19449 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
19451 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
19452 listed in each group info.
19454 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
19457 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
19458 should only be applied to some groups.
19460 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
19461 mail-copies-to: never.
19463 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
19464 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
19466 the slave dribble files should auto-save to the slave file names.
19468 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
19471 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
19474 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
19476 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
19479 group user-defined meta-parameters.
19483 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
19485 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
19486 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
19487 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
19488 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
19489 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
19491 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at @*
19492 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
19499 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
19500 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
19502 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
19503 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
19505 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
19506 "Return the date the group was last read."
19507 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
19512 tanken var at når du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til å lete
19513 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den være en
19514 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
19515 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
19519 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
19520 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
19522 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
19525 They could be used like this:
19529 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
19530 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
19531 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
19533 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
19535 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
19538 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
19541 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
19542 affect the summary line format.
19546 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
19548 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
19549 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
19551 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
19554 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
19556 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
19558 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
19560 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
19562 - For other files, just find them normally.
19564 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
19565 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
19568 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
19569 tell him what you are doing.
19572 Currently, I get prompted:
19576 decend into sci.something ?
19580 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
19581 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
19582 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
19583 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
19586 Ja, det burde være en måte å si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
19587 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? SÃ¥ kunne score-regler legges til den
19588 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
19589 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
19592 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
19593 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
19599 more than n blank lines
19601 more than m identical lines
19602 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
19604 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
19608 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
19609 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
19610 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
19611 "same" subject for threading purposes.
19614 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
19615 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
19616 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
19617 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
19620 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
19623 soup - bowl of soup
19624 score below - dim light bulb
19625 score over - bright light bulb
19628 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
19633 show-list-of-articles-in-group
19634 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
19635 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
19636 if (articles-selected)
19637 start-reading-selected-articles;
19638 junk-unread-articles;
19643 else if (key-pressed = '.')
19644 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
19645 select-thread-under-cursor;
19647 select-article-under-cursor;
19651 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
19652 if (more-pages-in-article)
19654 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
19661 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
19662 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
19663 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
19666 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
19667 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
19668 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
19669 the wildcard expression).
19672 It would be nice if it also handled
19674 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
19676 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
19681 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
19682 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
19683 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
19684 article versions) variable.
19686 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
19688 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
19689 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
19693 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
19696 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
19697 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
19698 (message-sent-hook).
19700 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
19703 * Enhancements to Gnus:
19707 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
19708 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
19711 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
19712 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
19713 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
19716 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
19717 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
19721 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
19724 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
19728 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
19729 the nnmail duplicate checking.
19732 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
19733 value of the signature file.
19736 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
19737 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
19740 (setq message-tab-alist
19741 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
19742 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
19744 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
19748 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
19751 a command to import a buffer into a group.
19754 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
19757 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
19758 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
19761 a command to process mark all unread articles.
19764 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
19765 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
19766 do more gathering by subject.
19769 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
19770 article numerical order.
19773 (gnus-thread-total-score
19774 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
19778 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
19781 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
19782 in the summary buffer.
19785 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
19786 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
19789 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
19790 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
19791 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
19792 and/or newsgroup name.
19795 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
19798 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
19801 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
19804 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
19805 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
19806 will automatically get the process mark.
19809 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
19810 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
19811 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
19814 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
19818 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
19819 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
19822 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
19823 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
19827 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
19828 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
19831 be able to post via DejaNews.
19834 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
19837 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
19838 allow them to be displayed separately.
19841 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
19842 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
19845 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
19846 articles that match a certain From header.
19849 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
19850 saving living summary buffers.
19853 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
19854 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
19857 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
19858 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
19861 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
19862 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
19865 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
19866 (goto-char (point-min))
19867 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
19868 (replace-match "`" t t))
19869 (goto-char (point-min))
19870 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
19871 (replace-match "'" t t))
19872 (goto-char (point-min))
19873 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
19874 (replace-match "\"" t t))
19875 (goto-char (point-min))
19876 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
19877 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
19882 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
19884 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
19885 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
19886 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
19887 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
19891 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
19894 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
19895 numbers and match on the age of the article.
19899 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
19900 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
19901 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
19903 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
19904 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
19906 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
19907 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
19912 all commands that react to the process mark should push
19913 the current process mark set onto the stack.
19916 gnus-article-hide-pgp
19917 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt å slette den dersom teksten matcher
19919 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
19921 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
19922 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
19925 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
19926 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
19929 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
19933 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
19934 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
19937 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
19940 nndraft-request-group should tally auto-save files.
19943 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
19946 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
19950 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
19956 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
19959 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
19963 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
19964 X characters in the body.
19967 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
19970 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
19973 format spec to "tab" to a position.
19976 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
19979 command to display all dormant articles.
19982 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
19985 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
19986 to something someone else has said.
19989 Read Netscape discussion groups:
19990 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
19993 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
19994 the displayed version.
19997 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
20001 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
20004 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
20005 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
20006 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
20010 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
20011 in the head or body.
20014 Allow breaking lengthy @sc{nntp} commands.
20017 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
20020 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
20021 in a special, unique buffer.
20024 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
20027 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
20028 is less than a certain number of days old.
20031 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
20034 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
20037 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
20038 file, for instance.
20041 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
20042 in any other dummy thread will make Gnus highlight the
20043 dummy root instead of the first article.
20046 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
20047 topics for displaying.
20050 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
20051 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
20054 gnus-posting-styles doesn't work in drafts.
20057 gnus-summary-limit-include-cached is slow when there are
20058 many articles in the cache, since it regenerates big parts of the
20059 summary buffer for each article.
20062 Implement gnus-batch-brew-soup.
20065 Group parameters and summary commands for un/subscribing to mailing
20069 Introduce nnmail-home-directory.
20072 gnus-fetch-group and friends should exit Gnus when the user
20076 The jingle is only played on the second invocation of Gnus.
20079 Bouncing articles should do MIME.
20082 Crossposted articles should "inherit" the % or @ mark from the other
20083 groups it has been crossposted to, or something. (Agent.)
20086 If point is on a group that appears multiple times in topics, and
20087 you press `l', point will move to the first instance of the group.
20090 A spec for the group line format to display the number of
20091 agent-downloaded articles in the group.
20094 Some nntp servers never respond when posting, so there should be a
20095 timeout for all commands.
20098 When stading on a topic line and `t'-ing, point goes to the last line.
20099 It should go somewhere else.
20102 I'm having trouble accessing a newsgroup with a "+" in its name with
20103 Gnus. There is a new newsgroup on msnews.microsoft.com named
20104 "microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time" that I'm trying to
20106 "nntp+msnews.microsoft.com:microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time"
20107 but it gives an error that it cant access the group.
20109 Is the "+" character illegal in newsgroup names? Is there any way in
20110 Gnus to work around this? (gnus 5.6.45 - XEmacs 20.4)
20117 Subject: Answer to your mails 01.01.1999-01.05.1999
20118 --text follows this line--
20119 Sorry I killfiled you...
20121 Under the subject "foo", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
20123 Under the subject "foo1", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
20128 Allow "orphan" scores in the Agent scoring.
20132 - Edit article's summary line.
20134 - Sort lines in buffer by subject
20136 --> the old subject line appears in Summary buffer, not the one that was
20142 Remove list identifiers from the subject in the summary when doing `^'
20146 Have the Agent write out articles, one by one, as it retrieves them,
20147 to avoid having to re-fetch them all if Emacs should crash while
20151 Be able to forward groups of messages as MIME digests.
20154 nnweb should include the "get whole article" article when getting articles.
20157 When I type W W c (gnus-article-hide-citation) in the summary
20158 buffer, the citations are revealed, but the [+] buttons don't turn
20159 into [-] buttons. (If I click on one of the [+] buttons, it does
20160 turn into a [-] button.)
20163 Solve the halting problem.
20172 @section The Manual
20176 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
20177 either @code{texi2dvi}
20179 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
20180 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
20182 to get what you hold in your hands now.
20184 The following conventions have been used:
20189 This is a @samp{string}
20192 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
20195 This is a @file{file}
20198 This is a @code{symbol}
20202 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
20206 (setq flargnoze "yes")
20209 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
20212 (setq flumphel 'yes)
20215 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
20216 ever get them confused.
20220 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
20221 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
20222 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
20223 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
20224 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
20225 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
20226 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
20232 @node On Writing Manuals
20233 @section On Writing Manuals
20235 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
20236 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
20237 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
20238 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
20239 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
20240 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
20243 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
20244 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
20245 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
20248 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
20249 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
20254 @section Terminology
20256 @cindex terminology
20261 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
20262 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
20263 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
20264 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
20265 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
20269 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
20270 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
20271 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
20272 not posting, and replying is not following up.
20276 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
20280 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
20285 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
20286 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
20287 is all done by the backends.
20291 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
20292 default, way of getting news.
20296 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
20297 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
20302 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
20303 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
20307 A message that has been posted as news.
20310 @cindex mail message
20311 A message that has been mailed.
20315 A mail message or news article
20319 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
20324 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
20329 A line from the head of an article.
20333 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
20334 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
20338 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
20339 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
20340 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
20341 normal @sc{head} format.
20345 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
20346 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
20347 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
20348 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
20349 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
20350 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
20352 @item killed groups
20353 @cindex killed groups
20354 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
20355 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
20357 @item zombie groups
20358 @cindex zombie groups
20359 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
20362 @cindex active file
20363 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
20364 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
20365 is rather large, as you might surmise.
20368 @cindex bogus groups
20369 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
20370 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
20371 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
20374 @cindex activating groups
20375 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
20376 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
20377 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
20381 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
20383 @item select method
20384 @cindex select method
20385 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
20388 @item virtual server
20389 @cindex virtual server
20390 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
20391 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
20392 whole is a virtual server.
20396 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
20397 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
20400 @item ephemeral groups
20401 @cindex ephemeral groups
20402 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
20403 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
20404 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
20407 @cindex solid groups
20408 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
20409 group buffer are solid groups.
20411 @item sparse articles
20412 @cindex sparse articles
20413 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
20414 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
20418 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
20419 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
20423 @cindex thread root
20424 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
20425 articles in the thread.
20429 An article that has responses.
20433 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
20437 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
20438 specified by RFC1153.
20444 @node Customization
20445 @section Customization
20446 @cindex general customization
20448 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
20449 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
20450 for some quite common situations.
20453 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
20454 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
20455 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
20456 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
20460 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
20461 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
20463 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
20464 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
20465 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
20469 @item gnus-read-active-file
20470 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
20471 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
20472 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
20473 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
20474 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
20476 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
20477 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
20478 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
20479 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
20483 @node Slow Terminal Connection
20484 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
20486 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
20487 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
20488 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
20492 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
20493 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
20494 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
20495 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
20496 horizontal and vertical recentering.
20498 @item gnus-visible-headers
20499 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
20500 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
20501 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
20502 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
20504 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
20506 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
20507 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
20508 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
20511 @item gnus-use-full-window
20512 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
20513 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
20514 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
20515 want to read them anyway.
20517 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
20518 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
20521 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
20522 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
20523 lines, which might save some time.
20527 @node Little Disk Space
20528 @subsection Little Disk Space
20531 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
20532 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
20536 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
20537 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
20538 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
20539 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20542 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
20543 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
20544 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
20545 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20548 @item gnus-save-killed-list
20549 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
20550 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
20551 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
20552 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
20558 @subsection Slow Machine
20559 @cindex slow machine
20561 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
20562 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
20564 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
20565 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
20567 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
20568 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
20569 summary buffer faster.
20573 @node Troubleshooting
20574 @section Troubleshooting
20575 @cindex troubleshooting
20577 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
20585 Make sure your computer is switched on.
20588 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
20589 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
20593 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
20594 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
20595 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
20596 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
20599 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
20603 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
20604 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
20605 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
20606 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
20607 something like that.
20610 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
20613 @cindex reporting bugs
20615 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
20617 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
20618 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
20619 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
20620 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
20622 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
20623 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
20624 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
20625 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
20628 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
20629 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
20630 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
20631 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
20632 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
20633 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
20635 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
20636 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
20637 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
20640 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
20641 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
20643 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
20644 @cindex ding mailing list
20645 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
20646 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
20650 @node Gnus Reference Guide
20651 @section Gnus Reference Guide
20653 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
20654 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
20655 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
20656 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
20659 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
20660 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
20661 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
20662 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
20663 and general methods of operation.
20666 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
20667 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
20668 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
20669 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
20670 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
20671 * Group Info:: The group info format.
20672 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
20673 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
20674 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
20678 @node Gnus Utility Functions
20679 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
20680 @cindex Gnus utility functions
20681 @cindex utility functions
20683 @cindex internal variables
20685 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
20686 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
20687 Below is a list of the most common ones.
20691 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
20692 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
20693 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
20695 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
20696 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
20697 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
20699 @item gnus-group-real-name
20700 @findex gnus-group-real-name
20701 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
20704 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
20705 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
20706 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
20707 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
20709 @item gnus-get-info
20710 @findex gnus-get-info
20711 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
20713 @item gnus-group-unread
20714 @findex gnus-group-unread
20715 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
20719 @findex gnus-active
20720 The active entry for @var{group}.
20722 @item gnus-set-active
20723 @findex gnus-set-active
20724 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
20726 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
20727 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
20728 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
20731 @item gnus-continuum-version
20732 @findex gnus-continuum-version
20733 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
20734 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
20737 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
20738 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
20739 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
20741 @item gnus-news-group-p
20742 @findex gnus-news-group-p
20743 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
20745 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
20746 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
20747 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
20749 @item gnus-server-to-method
20750 @findex gnus-server-to-method
20751 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
20753 @item gnus-server-equal
20754 @findex gnus-server-equal
20755 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
20757 @item gnus-group-native-p
20758 @findex gnus-group-native-p
20759 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
20761 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
20762 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
20763 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
20765 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
20766 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
20767 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
20769 @item group-group-find-parameter
20770 @findex group-group-find-parameter
20771 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
20772 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
20774 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
20775 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
20776 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
20778 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
20779 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
20780 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
20782 @item gnus-check-backend-function
20783 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
20784 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
20785 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
20788 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
20792 @item gnus-read-method
20793 @findex gnus-read-method
20794 Prompts the user for a select method.
20799 @node Backend Interface
20800 @subsection Backend Interface
20802 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
20803 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
20804 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
20805 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
20806 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
20807 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
20809 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
20810 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
20811 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
20812 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
20813 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
20814 been opened, the function should fail.
20816 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
20817 name. Take this example:
20821 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
20822 (nntp-port-number 4324))
20825 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
20826 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
20828 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
20829 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
20830 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
20832 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
20833 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
20834 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
20836 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
20837 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
20838 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
20839 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
20840 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
20841 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
20844 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
20845 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
20846 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
20847 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
20850 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
20853 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
20856 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
20857 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
20858 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
20859 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
20860 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
20861 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
20865 @node Required Backend Functions
20866 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
20870 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
20872 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
20873 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
20874 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
20875 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
20877 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
20878 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
20879 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
20880 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
20882 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
20883 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
20884 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
20885 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
20886 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
20887 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
20888 number, do maximum fetches.
20890 Here's an example HEAD:
20893 221 1056 Article retrieved.
20894 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
20895 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
20896 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
20897 Subject: Re: Something very droll
20898 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
20899 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
20901 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
20902 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
20903 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
20907 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
20908 these in the data buffer.
20910 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
20914 head = error / valid-head
20915 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
20916 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
20917 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
20918 header = <text> eol
20921 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
20922 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
20926 nov-buffer = *nov-line
20927 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
20928 field = <text except TAB>
20931 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
20935 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
20937 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
20938 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
20940 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
20941 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
20942 server. In fact, it should do so.
20944 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
20945 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
20948 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
20950 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
20951 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
20954 There should be no data returned.
20957 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
20959 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
20960 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
20961 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
20962 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
20964 There should be no data returned.
20967 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
20969 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
20970 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
20971 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
20972 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
20974 There should be no data returned.
20977 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
20979 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
20981 There should be no data returned.
20984 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
20986 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
20987 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
20988 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
20989 it would be nice if that were possible.
20991 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
20992 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
20993 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
20994 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
20995 into its article buffer.
20997 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
20998 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
20999 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
21000 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
21001 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
21002 on successful article retrieval.
21005 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
21007 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
21008 making @var{group} the current group.
21010 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
21013 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
21016 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
21019 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
21020 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
21021 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
21022 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
21023 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
21024 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
21025 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
21026 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
21029 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
21030 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
21031 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
21035 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21037 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
21038 a no-op on most backends.
21040 There should be no data returned.
21043 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
21045 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
21048 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
21051 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
21052 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
21055 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
21056 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
21059 active-file = *active-line
21060 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
21062 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
21065 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
21066 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
21067 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
21070 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
21072 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
21073 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
21074 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
21075 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
21076 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
21077 clear if the posting could not be completed.
21079 There should be no result data from this function.
21084 @node Optional Backend Functions
21085 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
21089 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
21091 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
21092 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
21093 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
21095 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
21096 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
21097 former is in the same format as the data from
21098 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
21099 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
21102 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
21106 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
21108 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
21109 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
21110 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
21111 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
21112 should return the (altered) group info.
21114 There should be no result data from this function.
21117 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
21119 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
21120 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
21121 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
21122 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
21123 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
21124 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
21125 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
21126 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
21128 There should be no result data from this function.
21131 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
21133 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
21134 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
21135 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
21136 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
21137 propagate the mark information to the server.
21139 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
21142 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
21145 Range is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. Action is
21146 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
21147 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
21148 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
21149 mentioned) marks. Mark is a list of marks; where each mark is a symbol.
21150 Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
21151 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
21152 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
21153 not limit itself to these.
21155 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
21156 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
21157 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
21158 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
21160 An example action list:
21163 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
21164 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
21165 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
21168 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
21169 mark on (currently not used for anything).
21171 There should be no result data from this function.
21173 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
21175 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
21176 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
21177 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
21178 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
21179 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
21181 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
21182 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
21183 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
21186 There should be no result data from this function.
21189 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
21191 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
21192 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
21193 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
21194 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
21195 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
21196 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
21197 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
21199 There should be no result data from this function.
21202 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
21204 The result data from this function should be a description of
21208 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
21210 description = <text>
21213 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
21215 The result data from this function should be the description of all
21216 groups available on the server.
21219 description-buffer = *description-line
21223 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
21225 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
21226 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
21227 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
21230 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21232 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
21234 There should be no return data.
21237 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
21239 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
21240 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
21241 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
21242 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
21243 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
21246 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
21249 There should be no result data returned.
21252 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
21255 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
21256 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
21258 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
21259 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
21260 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
21261 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
21262 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
21263 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
21265 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
21266 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
21269 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21270 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21272 There should be no data returned.
21275 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
21277 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
21278 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
21279 this function in short order.
21281 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21282 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21284 There should be no data returned.
21287 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
21289 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
21290 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
21292 There should be no data returned.
21295 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
21297 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
21298 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
21299 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
21301 There should be no data returned.
21304 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
21306 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
21307 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
21309 There should be no data returned.
21314 @node Error Messaging
21315 @subsubsection Error Messaging
21317 @findex nnheader-report
21318 @findex nnheader-get-report
21319 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
21320 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
21321 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
21322 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
21323 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
21324 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
21327 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
21329 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
21332 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
21333 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
21334 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
21335 takes one argument---the server symbol.
21337 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
21338 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
21339 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
21342 @node Writing New Backends
21343 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
21345 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
21346 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
21347 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
21348 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
21349 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
21352 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
21353 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
21354 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
21356 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
21357 package called @code{nnoo}.
21359 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
21360 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
21366 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
21367 parameters. For instance:
21370 (nnoo-declare nndir
21374 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
21375 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
21378 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
21379 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
21380 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
21382 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
21383 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
21384 a function in those backends.
21387 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
21388 "Where nndir will look for groups."
21389 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
21392 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
21393 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
21394 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
21396 @item nnoo-define-basics
21397 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
21401 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
21405 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
21406 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
21407 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
21409 @item nnoo-map-functions
21410 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
21411 functions from the parent backends.
21414 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
21415 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21416 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
21419 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
21420 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
21421 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
21422 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
21425 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
21426 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
21427 haven't already been defined.
21433 nnmh-request-newgroups)
21437 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
21438 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
21439 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
21444 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
21447 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
21448 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
21452 (require 'nnheader)
21456 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
21458 (nnoo-declare nndir
21461 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
21462 "Where nndir will look for groups."
21463 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
21465 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
21466 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
21469 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
21470 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
21471 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
21473 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
21474 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
21476 ;;; Interface functions.
21478 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
21480 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
21481 (setq nndir-directory
21482 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
21484 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
21485 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
21486 (push `(nndir-current-group
21487 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
21489 (push `(nndir-top-directory
21490 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
21492 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
21494 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
21495 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21496 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
21497 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
21498 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
21502 nnmh-status-message
21504 nnmh-request-newgroups))
21510 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
21511 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
21513 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
21514 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
21515 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
21516 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
21518 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
21519 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
21524 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
21527 The abilities can be:
21531 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
21533 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
21535 This backend supports both mail and news.
21537 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
21540 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
21541 articles and groups.
21543 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
21544 true for almost all backends.
21545 @item prompt-address
21546 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
21547 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
21548 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
21552 @node Mail-like Backends
21553 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
21555 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
21556 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
21557 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
21558 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
21561 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
21562 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
21563 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
21566 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
21567 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
21570 This function takes four parameters.
21574 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
21577 @item exit-function
21578 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
21580 @item temp-directory
21581 Where the temporary files should be stored.
21584 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
21585 performed for one group only.
21588 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
21589 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
21590 find the article number assigned to this article.
21592 The function also uses the following variables:
21593 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
21594 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
21595 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
21596 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
21600 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
21601 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
21605 @node Score File Syntax
21606 @subsection Score File Syntax
21608 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
21609 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
21610 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
21612 Here's a typical score file:
21616 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
21623 BNF definition of a score file:
21626 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
21627 element = rule / atom
21628 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
21629 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
21630 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
21631 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
21633 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
21634 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
21635 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
21636 date-header = "date"
21637 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21638 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21639 score = "nil" / <integer>
21640 date = "nil" / <natural number>
21641 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
21642 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
21643 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
21644 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
21645 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21646 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21647 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
21648 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
21649 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
21650 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
21651 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
21652 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
21653 exclude-files / read-only / touched
21654 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
21655 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
21656 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
21657 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
21658 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
21659 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
21660 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
21661 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
21662 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
21663 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
21664 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
21665 eval = "eval" space <form>
21666 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
21669 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
21672 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
21673 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
21674 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
21675 one looong line, then that's ok.
21677 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
21678 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21682 @subsection Headers
21684 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
21685 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
21686 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
21687 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
21689 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
21690 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
21691 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
21692 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
21693 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
21694 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
21695 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
21697 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
21698 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
21699 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
21700 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
21701 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
21703 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
21704 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
21710 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
21711 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
21713 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
21714 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
21715 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
21716 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
21718 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
21722 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
21725 is transformed into
21728 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
21731 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
21732 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
21735 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
21738 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
21739 is slightly tricky:
21742 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
21748 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
21751 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
21757 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
21764 and is equal to the previous range.
21766 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
21767 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
21768 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
21772 range = simple-range / normal-range
21773 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
21774 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
21775 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
21776 number *[ " " contents ]
21779 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
21780 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
21781 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
21782 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
21783 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
21788 @subsection Group Info
21790 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
21791 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
21792 describes the group.
21794 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
21795 second is a more complex one:
21798 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
21800 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
21801 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
21803 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
21806 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
21807 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
21808 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
21809 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
21810 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
21811 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
21812 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
21813 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
21814 this section is about.
21816 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
21817 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
21818 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
21820 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
21823 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
21824 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
21825 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
21826 group = quote <string> quote
21827 ralevel = rank / level
21828 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
21829 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
21830 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
21832 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
21833 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
21834 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
21835 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
21838 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
21839 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
21842 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
21843 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
21846 @item gnus-info-group
21847 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
21848 @findex gnus-info-group
21849 @findex gnus-info-set-group
21850 Get/set the group name.
21852 @item gnus-info-rank
21853 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
21854 @findex gnus-info-rank
21855 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
21856 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
21858 @item gnus-info-level
21859 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
21860 @findex gnus-info-level
21861 @findex gnus-info-set-level
21862 Get/set the group level.
21864 @item gnus-info-score
21865 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
21866 @findex gnus-info-score
21867 @findex gnus-info-set-score
21868 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
21870 @item gnus-info-read
21871 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
21872 @findex gnus-info-read
21873 @findex gnus-info-set-read
21874 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
21876 @item gnus-info-marks
21877 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
21878 @findex gnus-info-marks
21879 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
21880 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
21882 @item gnus-info-method
21883 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
21884 @findex gnus-info-method
21885 @findex gnus-info-set-method
21886 Get/set the group select method.
21888 @item gnus-info-params
21889 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
21890 @findex gnus-info-params
21891 @findex gnus-info-set-params
21892 Get/set the group parameters.
21895 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
21896 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
21898 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
21899 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
21900 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
21901 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
21904 @node Extended Interactive
21905 @subsection Extended Interactive
21906 @cindex interactive
21907 @findex gnus-interactive
21909 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
21910 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
21911 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
21914 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
21915 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
21920 The best thing to do would have been to implement
21921 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
21922 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
21923 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
21924 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
21925 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
21926 @code{interactive}.
21928 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
21933 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
21934 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
21938 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
21939 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
21940 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
21943 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
21947 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
21951 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
21957 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
21958 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
21962 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
21963 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
21964 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
21966 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
21967 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
21968 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
21969 Gnus, that's very useful.
21971 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
21972 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
21973 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
21974 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
21975 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
21976 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
21977 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
21978 following function:
21981 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
21985 (,function ,@@args))
21989 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
21990 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
21991 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
21994 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
21995 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
21996 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
21998 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
21999 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
22000 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
22003 @node Various File Formats
22004 @subsection Various File Formats
22007 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
22008 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
22012 @node Active File Format
22013 @subsubsection Active File Format
22015 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
22016 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
22019 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
22022 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
22023 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
22024 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
22025 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
22026 no.general 1000 900 y
22029 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
22032 active = *group-line
22033 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
22034 group = <non-white-space string>
22036 high-number = <non-negative integer>
22037 low-number = <positive integer>
22038 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
22041 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
22042 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
22045 @node Newsgroups File Format
22046 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
22048 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
22049 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
22050 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
22053 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
22054 Here's the definition:
22058 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
22059 group = <non-white-space string>
22061 description = <string>
22066 @node Emacs for Heathens
22067 @section Emacs for Heathens
22069 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
22070 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
22071 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
22072 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
22073 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
22074 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
22075 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
22079 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
22080 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
22085 @subsection Keystrokes
22089 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
22092 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
22095 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
22096 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
22097 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
22098 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
22099 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
22100 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
22102 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
22103 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
22104 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
22105 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
22106 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
22107 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
22108 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
22110 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
22111 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
22112 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
22113 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
22114 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
22115 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
22116 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
22118 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
22119 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
22120 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
22121 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
22122 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
22128 @subsection Emacs Lisp
22130 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
22131 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
22132 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
22133 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
22135 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
22136 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
22137 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
22138 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
22139 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
22140 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
22141 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
22144 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
22145 write the following:
22148 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
22151 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
22152 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
22153 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
22156 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
22157 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
22158 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
22159 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
22160 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
22162 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
22163 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
22164 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
22168 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
22172 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
22175 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
22176 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
22179 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
22182 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
22183 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
22186 @include gnus-faq.texi