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4 @settitle Pterodactyl Gnus 0.41 Manual
9 @c * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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264 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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273 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97,98 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
275 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
276 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
277 are preserved on all copies.
279 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
280 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
281 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
282 permission notice identical to this one.
284 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
285 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
294 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
296 Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
298 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
299 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
300 are preserved on all copies.
303 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
304 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
305 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
306 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
309 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
310 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
311 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
312 permission notice identical to this one.
314 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
315 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
321 @title Pterodactyl Gnus 0.41 Manual
323 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
326 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
327 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
329 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
330 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
331 are preserved on all copies.
333 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
334 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
335 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
336 permission notice identical to this one.
338 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
339 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
348 @top The Gnus Newsreader
352 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
353 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
354 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
357 This manual corresponds to Pterodactyl Gnus 0.41.
368 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
369 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
371 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
372 being accused of plagiarism:
374 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
375 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
376 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
377 even read news with it!
379 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
380 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
381 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
382 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
383 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
390 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
391 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
392 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
393 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
394 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
395 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
396 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
397 * Various:: General purpose settings.
398 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
399 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
400 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
401 * Key Index:: Key Index.
405 @chapter Starting Gnus
410 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
411 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
414 @findex gnus-other-frame
415 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
416 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
417 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
419 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
420 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
421 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
423 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
424 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
427 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
428 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
429 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
430 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
431 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
432 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
433 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
434 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
435 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
436 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
437 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
441 @node Finding the News
442 @section Finding the News
445 @vindex gnus-select-method
447 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
448 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
449 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
450 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
453 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
454 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
457 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
460 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
463 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
466 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
467 certainly be much faster.
469 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
471 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
472 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
473 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
474 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
475 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
476 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
478 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
479 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
480 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
481 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
483 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
484 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
485 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
486 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
487 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
488 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting.
490 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
492 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
493 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
494 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
495 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
496 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
497 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
499 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
501 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
502 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
503 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
504 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
505 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
506 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
509 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
510 would typically set this variable to
513 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
518 @section The First Time
519 @cindex first time usage
521 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
522 be subscribed by default.
524 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
525 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
526 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
527 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
530 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
531 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
532 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
534 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
535 help you with most common problems.
537 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
538 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
542 @node The Server is Down
543 @section The Server is Down
544 @cindex server errors
546 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
547 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
548 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
550 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
551 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
552 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
553 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
554 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
555 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
556 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
558 @findex gnus-no-server
559 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
561 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
562 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
563 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
564 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
565 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
566 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
571 @section Slave Gnusae
574 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
575 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
576 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
577 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
579 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
582 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
583 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
584 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
585 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
586 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
587 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
588 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
590 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
591 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
592 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
593 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
594 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
595 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
596 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
597 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
599 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
600 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
603 @node Fetching a Group
604 @section Fetching a Group
605 @cindex fetching a group
607 @findex gnus-fetch-group
608 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
609 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
610 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
611 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
612 It takes the group name as a parameter.
620 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
621 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
622 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
623 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
624 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
625 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
626 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
627 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the backends for new groups even
628 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
631 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
632 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
633 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
637 @node Checking New Groups
638 @subsection Checking New Groups
640 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
641 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
642 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
643 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
644 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
645 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
646 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
647 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
648 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
649 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
651 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
652 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
653 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
654 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
655 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
656 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
657 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
658 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
659 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
660 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
661 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
663 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
664 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
665 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
666 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
667 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
668 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
671 @node Subscription Methods
672 @subsection Subscription Methods
674 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
675 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
676 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
678 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
679 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
681 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
685 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
686 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
687 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
688 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
689 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
691 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
692 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
693 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
694 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
696 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
697 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
698 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
700 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
701 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
702 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
703 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
704 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
705 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into it's
706 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
707 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
708 up. Or something like that.
710 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
711 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
712 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
713 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
714 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
716 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
717 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
722 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
723 A closely related variable is
724 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
725 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
726 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
727 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
730 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
731 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
732 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
733 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
736 @node Filtering New Groups
737 @subsection Filtering New Groups
739 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
740 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
741 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
744 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
747 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
748 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
749 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
750 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
751 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
752 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
753 subscribing these groups.
754 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
755 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
757 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
758 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
759 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
760 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
761 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
762 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
763 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
764 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
766 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
767 Yet another variable that meddles here is
768 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
769 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
770 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
771 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
772 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
773 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
774 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
775 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
777 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
778 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
781 @node Changing Servers
782 @section Changing Servers
783 @cindex changing servers
785 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
786 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
787 very flaky and you want to use another.
789 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
790 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
794 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
795 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
796 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
797 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
800 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
801 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
802 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
803 functions more than absolutely necessary.
805 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
806 @findex gnus-change-server
807 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
808 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
809 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
810 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
811 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
813 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
814 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
815 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
816 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
817 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
819 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
820 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
821 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
822 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
823 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
824 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
826 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
827 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
828 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
832 @section Startup Files
833 @cindex startup files
838 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
839 information is traditionally stored in this file.
841 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
842 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
843 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
844 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
845 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
846 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
847 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
849 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
850 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
851 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
852 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
853 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
854 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
856 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
857 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
858 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
859 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
860 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
861 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
863 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
864 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
865 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
866 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
867 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
868 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
869 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
870 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
871 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
872 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
873 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
874 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
876 @vindex gnus-startup-file
877 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
878 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
879 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
881 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
882 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
883 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
884 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
885 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
886 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
887 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
888 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
889 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
890 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
893 (defun turn-off-backup ()
894 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
896 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
897 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
900 @vindex gnus-init-file
901 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
902 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
903 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
904 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
905 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
906 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
907 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
908 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
909 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
918 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
919 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
920 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
921 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
922 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
925 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
926 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
929 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
930 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
931 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
933 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
934 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
935 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
936 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
937 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
938 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
940 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
941 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
942 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
945 @node The Active File
946 @section The Active File
948 @cindex ignored groups
950 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
951 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
952 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
954 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
955 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
956 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
957 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
958 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
959 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
960 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
963 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
964 @c if you set it to anything else.
966 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
968 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
969 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
970 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
972 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
973 you actually subscribe to.
975 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
976 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
977 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
978 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
980 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
981 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
982 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
983 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
984 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
985 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
987 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
988 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
989 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
990 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
991 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
992 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
994 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
995 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
997 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
998 secondary select methods.
1001 @node Startup Variables
1002 @section Startup Variables
1006 @item gnus-load-hook
1007 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1008 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1009 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1010 times you start Gnus.
1012 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1013 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1014 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1016 @item gnus-startup-hook
1017 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1018 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1020 @item gnus-started-hook
1021 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1022 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1025 @item gnus-started-hook
1026 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1027 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1028 generating the group buffer.
1030 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1031 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1032 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1033 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1034 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1035 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1036 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1037 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1039 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1040 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1041 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1042 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1043 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1044 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1046 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1047 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1048 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1050 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1051 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1052 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1054 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1055 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1056 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1057 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1062 @node The Group Buffer
1063 @chapter The Group Buffer
1064 @cindex group buffer
1066 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1067 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1068 long as Gnus is active.
1072 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1073 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1074 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1075 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1076 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1077 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1078 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1079 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1085 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1086 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1087 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1088 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1089 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1090 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1091 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1092 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1093 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1094 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1095 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1096 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1097 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1098 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1099 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1100 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1101 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1105 @node Group Buffer Format
1106 @section Group Buffer Format
1109 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1110 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1111 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1115 @node Group Line Specification
1116 @subsection Group Line Specification
1117 @cindex group buffer format
1119 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1120 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1122 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1125 25: news.announce.newusers
1126 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1131 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1132 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1133 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1134 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1136 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1137 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1138 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1139 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1140 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1141 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1143 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1145 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1146 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1147 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1148 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1151 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1152 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1153 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1155 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1160 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1163 Whether the group is subscribed.
1166 Level of subscribedness.
1169 Number of unread articles.
1172 Number of dormant articles.
1175 Number of ticked articles.
1178 Number of read articles.
1181 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1182 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1185 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1188 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1197 Newsgroup description.
1200 @samp{m} if moderated.
1203 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1212 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1216 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1219 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1220 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1221 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1222 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1223 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.emacs.gnus}.
1226 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1228 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1232 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1236 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1237 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1238 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1239 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1240 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1241 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1246 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1247 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1248 group, or a bogus native group.
1251 @node Group Modeline Specification
1252 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1253 @cindex group modeline
1255 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1256 The mode line can be changed by setting
1257 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1258 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1262 The native news server.
1264 The native select method.
1268 @node Group Highlighting
1269 @subsection Group Highlighting
1270 @cindex highlighting
1271 @cindex group highlighting
1273 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1274 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1275 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1276 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1277 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1279 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1283 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-1
1284 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))))
1285 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-2
1286 '((t (:foreground "SeaGreen" :bold t))))
1287 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-3
1288 '((t (:foreground "SpringGreen" :bold t))))
1289 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-4
1290 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))))
1291 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-5
1292 '((t (:foreground "SkyBlue" :bold t))))
1294 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1295 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1296 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1297 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1298 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1299 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1302 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1304 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1311 The number of unread articles in the group.
1315 Whether the group is a mail group.
1317 The level of the group.
1319 The score of the group.
1321 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1323 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1324 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1326 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1327 topic being inserted.
1330 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1331 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1332 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1334 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1335 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1336 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1337 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1338 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1341 @node Group Maneuvering
1342 @section Group Maneuvering
1343 @cindex group movement
1345 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1346 expected, hopefully.
1352 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1353 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1354 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1360 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1361 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1362 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1366 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1367 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1371 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1372 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1376 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1377 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1378 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1382 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1383 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1384 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1387 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1393 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1394 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1395 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1400 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1401 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1402 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1406 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1407 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1408 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1411 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1412 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1413 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1414 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1418 @node Selecting a Group
1419 @section Selecting a Group
1420 @cindex group selection
1425 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1426 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1427 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1428 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1429 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1430 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1431 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1432 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1433 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1434 negative, Gnus fetches the @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1438 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1439 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1440 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1441 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1442 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1446 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1447 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1448 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1449 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1450 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1451 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1452 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1453 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1454 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1455 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1458 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1459 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1460 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1461 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1462 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1465 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1466 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1467 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1468 doing any processing of its contents
1469 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1470 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1471 manner will have no permanent effects.
1475 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1476 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1477 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1478 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1479 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1480 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1481 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1482 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1485 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1486 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1487 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1488 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1493 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1494 full summary buffer.
1497 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1500 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
1505 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
1506 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
1507 Useful functions include:
1510 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
1511 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
1512 don't select the article.
1514 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
1515 Select the first unread article.
1517 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
1518 Select the highest-scored unread article.
1522 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1523 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1524 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1528 @node Subscription Commands
1529 @section Subscription Commands
1530 @cindex subscription
1538 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1539 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
1540 Toggle subscription to the current group
1541 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1547 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1548 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1549 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1550 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1556 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1557 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
1558 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1564 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1565 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1568 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1569 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1570 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1571 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1572 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1578 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1579 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1583 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1584 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1587 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1588 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1589 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1590 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1591 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1592 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1593 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1594 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1595 @file{.newsrc} file.
1599 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1609 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1610 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1611 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
1612 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1613 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1614 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
1619 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1620 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1621 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1625 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1626 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1627 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1629 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1630 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1631 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1632 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1633 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1634 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1641 @section Group Levels
1645 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1646 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1647 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1648 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1649 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1651 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1657 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1658 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1659 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1660 prompted for a level.
1663 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1664 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1665 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1666 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1667 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
1668 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1669 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1670 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1671 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1672 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
1673 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
1674 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
1675 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
1676 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
1677 reasons of efficiency.
1679 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1680 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1682 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1683 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1684 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1686 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1687 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1688 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1689 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1690 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1691 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1692 relevant valid ranges.
1694 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1695 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1696 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
1697 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1698 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1699 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1702 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1703 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1704 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1707 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1708 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1709 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1710 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1713 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1714 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1715 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1716 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1718 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1719 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
1720 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
1721 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
1722 to 5. The default is 6.
1726 @section Group Score
1731 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1732 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1733 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1736 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1737 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1738 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1739 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1740 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1741 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1742 part and the score is the least significant part.))
1744 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1745 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1746 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1747 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1748 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1749 action after each summary exit, you can add
1750 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1751 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1752 slow things down somewhat.
1755 @node Marking Groups
1756 @section Marking Groups
1757 @cindex marking groups
1759 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1760 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1761 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1762 bidding on those groups.
1764 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1765 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1766 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1774 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1775 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1781 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1782 Remove the mark from the current group
1783 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1787 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1788 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1792 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1793 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1797 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1798 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1802 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1803 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1804 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1807 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1809 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1810 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1811 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1812 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1813 the command to be executed.
1816 @node Foreign Groups
1817 @section Foreign Groups
1818 @cindex foreign groups
1820 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1821 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1822 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1823 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1830 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1831 @cindex making groups
1832 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1833 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1834 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1838 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1839 @cindex renaming groups
1840 Rename the current group to something else
1841 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
1842 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1848 @findex gnus-group-customize
1849 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1853 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1854 @cindex renaming groups
1855 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1856 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1860 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1861 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1862 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1866 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1867 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1868 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1872 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1874 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1875 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1880 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1881 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1885 @cindex (ding) archive
1886 @cindex archive group
1887 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1888 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1889 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1890 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1891 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1892 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1893 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1897 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1899 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1900 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1901 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1902 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1906 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1908 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
1909 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1910 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1914 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1915 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1917 Make a group based on some file or other
1918 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1919 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1920 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1921 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
1922 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, and @code{forward}. If you run
1923 this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file type.
1924 @xref{Document Groups}.
1928 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
1929 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
1930 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
1931 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
1935 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1940 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1941 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1942 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1943 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
1944 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1945 @xref{Web Searches}.
1947 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
1948 to a particular group by using a match string like
1949 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
1952 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1953 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1954 This function will delete the current group
1955 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1956 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1957 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1958 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
1959 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
1963 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1964 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1965 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
1969 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1970 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1971 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1974 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1977 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1978 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1979 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1980 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1981 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
1982 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
1986 @node Group Parameters
1987 @section Group Parameters
1988 @cindex group parameters
1990 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
1991 Here's an example group parameter list:
1994 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
1998 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
1999 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2000 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2001 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2003 The following group parameters can be used:
2008 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2011 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2014 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2015 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2016 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2017 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2018 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2020 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2021 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2022 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2023 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2024 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2025 list address instead.
2029 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
2032 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2035 It is totally ignored
2036 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2037 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2039 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2040 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2041 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2042 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2043 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2045 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2046 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2047 sending the message.
2051 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2052 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2053 of whether it has any unread articles.
2055 @item broken-reply-to
2056 @cindex broken-reply-to
2057 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2058 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2059 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2060 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2061 broken behavior. So there!
2065 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2066 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2070 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2071 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2072 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2077 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2078 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2079 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2080 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2081 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2082 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2083 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2087 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2088 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2089 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2092 @cindex total-expire
2093 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2094 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2095 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2096 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2101 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2102 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2103 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2104 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2105 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2106 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2109 @cindex score file group parameter
2110 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2111 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2112 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2115 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2116 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2117 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2118 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2121 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2122 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2123 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2124 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2127 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2128 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2132 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2135 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2140 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2141 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2142 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2146 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2147 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2148 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2150 @item @var{(variable form)}
2151 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2152 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2153 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2154 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2155 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2156 @code{eval}ed there.
2158 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2159 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2160 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2161 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2162 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2166 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2167 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2171 @node Listing Groups
2172 @section Listing Groups
2173 @cindex group listing
2175 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2183 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2184 List all groups that have unread articles
2185 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2186 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2187 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2188 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2195 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2196 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2197 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2198 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2199 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2200 unsubscribed groups).
2204 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2205 List all unread groups on a specific level
2206 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2207 with no unread articles.
2211 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2212 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2213 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2214 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2219 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2220 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2224 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2225 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2226 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2230 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2231 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2235 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2236 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2237 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2238 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2239 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2240 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2241 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2242 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2246 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2247 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2248 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2252 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2253 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2254 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2258 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2259 @cindex visible group parameter
2260 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2261 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2262 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2263 get the same effect.
2265 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2266 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2267 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2268 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2269 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2272 @node Sorting Groups
2273 @section Sorting Groups
2274 @cindex sorting groups
2276 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2277 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2278 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2279 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2280 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2281 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2286 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2287 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2288 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2290 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2291 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2292 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2294 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2295 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2296 Sort by group level.
2298 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2299 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2300 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2302 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2303 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2304 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2305 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2307 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2308 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2309 Sort by number of unread articles.
2311 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2312 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2313 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2318 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2319 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2323 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2324 some sorting criteria:
2328 @kindex G S a (Group)
2329 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2330 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2331 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2334 @kindex G S u (Group)
2335 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2336 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2337 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2340 @kindex G S l (Group)
2341 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2342 Sort the group buffer by group level
2343 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2346 @kindex G S v (Group)
2347 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2348 Sort the group buffer by group score
2349 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2352 @kindex G S r (Group)
2353 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2354 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2355 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2358 @kindex G S m (Group)
2359 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2360 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2361 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2365 All the commands below obeys the process/prefix convention
2366 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2368 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2369 commands will sort in reverse order.
2371 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2375 @kindex G P a (Group)
2376 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2377 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2378 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2381 @kindex G P u (Group)
2382 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2383 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2384 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2387 @kindex G P l (Group)
2388 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2389 Sort the groups by group level
2390 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2393 @kindex G P v (Group)
2394 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2395 Sort the groups by group score
2396 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2399 @kindex G P r (Group)
2400 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2401 Sort the groups by group rank
2402 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2405 @kindex G P m (Group)
2406 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2407 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
2408 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2414 @node Group Maintenance
2415 @section Group Maintenance
2416 @cindex bogus groups
2421 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2422 Find bogus groups and delete them
2423 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2427 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2428 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2429 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2430 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2431 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2435 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2436 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2437 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2438 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2441 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2442 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2443 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2444 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2449 @node Browse Foreign Server
2450 @section Browse Foreign Server
2451 @cindex foreign servers
2452 @cindex browsing servers
2457 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2458 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2459 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2460 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2463 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2464 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2465 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2466 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2468 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2473 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2474 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2478 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2479 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2482 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2483 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2484 Enter the current group and display the first article
2485 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2488 @kindex RET (Browse)
2489 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2490 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2494 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2495 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2496 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2502 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2503 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2507 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2508 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2509 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2514 @section Exiting Gnus
2515 @cindex exiting Gnus
2517 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2522 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2523 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2524 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2525 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2529 @findex gnus-group-exit
2530 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
2531 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2535 @findex gnus-group-quit
2536 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2537 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2540 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2541 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2542 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2543 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2544 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2549 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2550 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2551 trying to customize meta-variables.
2556 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2557 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2558 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2564 @section Group Topics
2567 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2568 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2569 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2570 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2571 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2572 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2576 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
2577 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
2588 2: alt.religion.emacs
2591 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2593 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2594 13: comp.sources.unix
2597 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2599 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2600 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2601 is a toggling command.)
2603 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2604 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2605 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2606 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2609 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2610 the hook for the group mode:
2613 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2617 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2618 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2619 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2620 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2621 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2625 @node Topic Variables
2626 @subsection Topic Variables
2627 @cindex topic variables
2629 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2630 really neat, I think.
2632 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2633 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2634 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2647 Number of groups in the topic.
2649 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2651 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2654 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2655 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2656 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2659 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2660 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2662 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2663 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2664 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2667 @node Topic Commands
2668 @subsection Topic Commands
2669 @cindex topic commands
2671 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2672 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2673 definitions slightly.
2679 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2680 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2681 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2685 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2686 Move the current group to some other topic
2687 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2688 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2692 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2693 Copy the current group to some other topic
2694 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2695 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2699 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2700 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2701 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
2702 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
2703 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
2704 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
2705 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
2708 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2709 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2713 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2714 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2715 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2719 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2720 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2721 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2725 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
2726 Toggle hiding empty topics
2727 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
2731 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2732 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2733 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2736 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2737 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2738 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2739 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2743 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2745 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2746 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2747 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2748 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2749 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2750 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2754 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2756 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2757 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2758 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2759 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2762 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
2763 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
2764 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2765 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
2769 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2770 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2771 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2775 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2776 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2777 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2782 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2783 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2786 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2787 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2788 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2792 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2793 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2794 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2798 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2799 @cindex group parameters
2800 @cindex topic parameters
2802 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2803 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2809 @subsection Topic Sorting
2810 @cindex topic sorting
2812 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2818 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2819 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2820 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2821 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2824 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2825 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2826 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2827 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2830 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2831 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2832 Sort the current topic by group level
2833 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2836 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2837 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2838 Sort the current topic by group score
2839 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2842 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2843 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2844 Sort the current topic by group rank
2845 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2848 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2849 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2850 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2851 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2855 @xref{Sorting Groups} for more information about group sorting.
2858 @node Topic Topology
2859 @subsection Topic Topology
2860 @cindex topic topology
2863 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2869 2: alt.religion.emacs
2872 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2874 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2875 13: comp.sources.unix
2878 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2879 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2880 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2885 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2886 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2890 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2891 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2892 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2893 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2894 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2895 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2897 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2898 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2899 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2902 @node Topic Parameters
2903 @subsection Topic Parameters
2904 @cindex topic parameters
2906 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2907 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
2908 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2910 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2911 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2912 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2913 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2919 2: alt.religion.emacs
2923 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2925 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2926 13: comp.sources.unix
2930 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
2931 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
2932 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
2933 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
2934 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
2935 . "religion.SCORE")}.
2937 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
2938 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
2939 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
2940 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
2941 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
2943 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
2944 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
2945 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
2946 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
2947 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
2948 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
2949 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
2950 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
2953 @node Misc Group Stuff
2954 @section Misc Group Stuff
2957 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2958 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
2959 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
2960 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
2967 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
2968 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
2969 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
2973 @findex gnus-group-post-news
2974 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
2975 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
2979 @findex gnus-group-mail
2980 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
2984 Variables for the group buffer:
2988 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
2989 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
2990 is called after the group buffer has been
2993 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
2994 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2995 is called after the group buffer is
2996 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
2999 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3000 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3001 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3002 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3004 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3005 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3006 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3007 whether they are empty or not.
3012 @node Scanning New Messages
3013 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3014 @cindex new messages
3015 @cindex scanning new news
3021 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3022 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3023 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3024 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3025 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3026 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3031 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3032 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3033 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3034 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3035 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3036 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3037 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3039 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3040 @cindex activating groups
3042 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3043 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3048 @findex gnus-group-restart
3049 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3050 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3051 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
3055 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3056 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3058 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3059 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3063 @node Group Information
3064 @subsection Group Information
3065 @cindex group information
3066 @cindex information on groups
3073 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3074 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3077 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3078 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3079 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3080 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3081 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3082 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3083 for fetching the file.
3085 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3086 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3090 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3092 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3093 @cindex describing groups
3094 @cindex group description
3095 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3096 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3097 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3101 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3102 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3103 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3110 @findex gnus-version
3111 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3115 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3116 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3119 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3122 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3123 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3127 @node Group Timestamp
3128 @subsection Group Timestamp
3130 @cindex group timestamps
3132 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
3133 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3134 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3137 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3140 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3142 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3143 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3146 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3147 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3150 This will result in lines looking like:
3153 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3154 0: custom 19961002T012713
3157 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3158 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3162 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3163 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3168 @subsection File Commands
3169 @cindex file commands
3175 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3176 @vindex gnus-init-file
3177 @cindex reading init file
3178 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3179 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3183 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3184 @cindex saving .newsrc
3185 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3186 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3187 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3190 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3191 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3192 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3197 @node The Summary Buffer
3198 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3199 @cindex summary buffer
3201 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3202 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3204 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3205 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3207 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3210 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3211 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3212 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3213 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3214 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3215 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
3216 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3217 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3218 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3219 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3220 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3221 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3222 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3223 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3224 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3225 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3226 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3227 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3228 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3229 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3230 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3231 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3232 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3233 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3234 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3235 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3236 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3237 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3241 @node Summary Buffer Format
3242 @section Summary Buffer Format
3243 @cindex summary buffer format
3247 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3248 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3249 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3255 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3256 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3257 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3258 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3261 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3262 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3263 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3264 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3265 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3266 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3267 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3268 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3269 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3270 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3271 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
3274 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3275 'mail-extract-address-components)
3278 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3279 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3280 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3281 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3284 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3285 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3287 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3288 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3289 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3290 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3291 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3293 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3295 The following format specification characters are understood:
3303 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3304 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3305 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3307 Full @code{From} header.
3309 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3311 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3312 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3314 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3315 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3316 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3317 may be more thorough.
3319 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3322 Number of lines in the article.
3324 Number of characters in the article.
3326 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3328 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3329 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3331 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3332 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3334 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3335 for adopted articles.
3337 One space for each thread level.
3339 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3344 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3345 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3349 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3351 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3352 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3353 default level. If the difference between
3354 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3355 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3363 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3365 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3371 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3372 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3374 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3375 article has any children.
3381 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3382 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3383 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3384 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3385 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3386 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3389 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3390 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
3391 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3392 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3393 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3394 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3396 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3397 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3399 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
3402 @node To From Newsgroups
3403 @subsection To From Newsgroups
3407 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
3408 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
3409 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
3410 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
3411 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
3415 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
3416 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
3417 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
3421 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3422 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
3425 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
3426 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
3429 @findex gnus-extra-header
3430 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
3431 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
3432 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
3435 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
3439 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3440 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
3441 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
3442 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
3443 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
3444 headers are used instead.
3448 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
3449 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
3450 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files.
3452 In summary, you'd typically do something like the following:
3455 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3457 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
3458 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
3459 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
3460 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3465 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3466 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3468 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3469 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
3470 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
3471 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3473 Here are the elements you can play with:
3479 Unprefixed group name.
3481 Current article number.
3483 Current article score.
3487 Number of unread articles in this group.
3489 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
3492 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3493 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3494 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3495 and no unselected ones.
3497 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3498 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3500 Subject of the current article.
3502 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
3504 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
3506 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3508 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3510 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3512 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3516 @node Summary Highlighting
3517 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3521 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3522 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3523 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3524 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3525 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3527 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3528 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3529 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3530 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3532 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3533 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3534 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
3535 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3537 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3538 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3539 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3540 list where the elements are of the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
3541 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
3542 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
3544 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3545 ((> score default) . bold))
3547 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3548 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
3552 @node Summary Maneuvering
3553 @section Summary Maneuvering
3554 @cindex summary movement
3556 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3557 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3559 None of these commands select articles.
3564 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3565 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3566 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3567 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3568 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3572 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3573 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3574 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3575 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3576 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3581 @kindex G j (Summary)
3582 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3583 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
3584 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3587 @kindex G g (Summary)
3588 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3589 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
3590 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3593 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3594 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3595 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3596 to the group buffer.
3598 Variables related to summary movement:
3602 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3603 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3604 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3605 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
3606 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3607 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3608 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
3609 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3610 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
3611 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3612 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3613 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3614 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3615 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3617 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3618 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3619 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3620 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3621 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3622 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
3623 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
3625 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3627 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3628 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3629 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3630 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3631 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3633 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3634 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3635 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3636 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3637 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3638 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3639 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3640 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3643 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
3644 the given number of lines from the top.
3649 @node Choosing Articles
3650 @section Choosing Articles
3651 @cindex selecting articles
3654 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3655 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3659 @node Choosing Commands
3660 @subsection Choosing Commands
3662 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3663 and they all select and display an article.
3667 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3668 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3669 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3670 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3675 @kindex G n (Summary)
3676 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3677 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
3678 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3683 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3684 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
3685 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3690 @kindex G N (Summary)
3691 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3692 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3697 @kindex G P (Summary)
3698 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3699 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3702 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3703 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3704 Go to the next article with the same subject
3705 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3708 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3709 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3710 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3711 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3715 @kindex G f (Summary)
3717 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3718 Go to the first unread article
3719 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3723 @kindex G b (Summary)
3725 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3726 Go to the article with the highest score
3727 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3732 @kindex G l (Summary)
3733 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3734 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3737 @kindex G o (Summary)
3738 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3740 @cindex article history
3741 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3742 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3743 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3744 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
3745 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
3746 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
3750 @node Choosing Variables
3751 @subsection Choosing Variables
3753 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3756 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3757 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3758 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3759 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3760 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3761 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3763 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3764 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3765 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3766 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3768 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3769 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3770 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3771 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3772 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3773 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3774 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3775 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3776 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3777 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3778 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3779 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3780 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3781 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3786 @node Paging the Article
3787 @section Scrolling the Article
3788 @cindex article scrolling
3793 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3794 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3795 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3796 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3797 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3800 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3801 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3802 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3805 @kindex RET (Summary)
3806 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3807 Scroll the current article one line forward
3808 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3811 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
3812 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
3813 Scroll the current article one line backward
3814 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
3818 @kindex A g (Summary)
3820 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3821 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3822 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3823 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3824 the way it came from the server.
3829 @kindex A < (Summary)
3830 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3831 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3832 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3837 @kindex A > (Summary)
3838 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3839 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3843 @kindex A s (Summary)
3845 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3846 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3847 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3851 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
3852 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
3857 @node Reply Followup and Post
3858 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3861 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3862 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3866 @node Summary Mail Commands
3867 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3869 @cindex composing mail
3871 Commands for composing a mail message:
3877 @kindex S r (Summary)
3879 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3880 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
3881 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
3882 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3883 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3888 @kindex S R (Summary)
3889 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3890 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
3891 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3892 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3893 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3896 @kindex S w (Summary)
3897 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
3898 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
3899 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
3900 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
3901 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
3904 @kindex S W (Summary)
3905 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
3906 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
3907 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
3908 the process/prefix convention.
3911 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3912 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3913 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
3914 Forward the current article to some other person
3915 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3916 headers of the forwarded article.
3921 @kindex S m (Summary)
3922 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3923 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
3924 Send a mail to some other person
3925 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3928 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3929 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3930 @cindex bouncing mail
3931 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3932 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3933 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3934 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3935 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3936 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
3937 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3938 very well fail, though.
3941 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3942 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3943 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3944 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3945 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3946 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3947 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3948 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3949 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3950 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
3952 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3953 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
3954 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
3955 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
3956 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
3958 This command understands the process/prefix convention
3959 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3962 @kindex S O m (Summary)
3963 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
3964 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
3965 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
3966 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3969 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
3970 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
3971 @cindex crossposting
3972 @cindex excessive crossposting
3973 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
3974 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
3976 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
3977 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
3978 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
3979 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
3980 command understands the process/prefix convention
3981 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
3985 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
3988 @node Summary Post Commands
3989 @subsection Summary Post Commands
3991 @cindex composing news
3993 Commands for posting a news article:
3999 @kindex S p (Summary)
4000 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4001 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4002 Post an article to the current group
4003 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4008 @kindex S f (Summary)
4009 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4010 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4011 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4015 @kindex S F (Summary)
4017 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4018 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4019 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4020 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4021 process/prefix convention.
4024 @kindex S n (Summary)
4025 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4026 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4027 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4030 @kindex S N (Summary)
4031 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4032 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4033 message through mail and include the original message
4034 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4035 the process/prefix convention.
4038 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4039 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4040 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4041 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4042 headers of the forwarded article.
4045 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4046 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4048 @cindex making digests
4049 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4050 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4051 process/prefix convention.
4054 @kindex S u (Summary)
4055 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4056 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4057 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4058 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4061 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4064 @node Canceling and Superseding
4065 @section Canceling Articles
4066 @cindex canceling articles
4067 @cindex superseding articles
4069 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4070 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4072 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4074 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4076 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4077 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4078 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4079 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4080 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4081 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4083 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4084 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4087 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4088 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4089 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4091 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4092 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4093 your original article.
4095 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4097 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4098 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4099 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4102 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4103 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4104 have posted almost the same article twice.
4106 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4107 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4108 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4109 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4110 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4111 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4112 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4113 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4114 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4115 canceled/superseded.
4117 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4120 @node Marking Articles
4121 @section Marking Articles
4122 @cindex article marking
4123 @cindex article ticking
4126 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4128 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4129 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4130 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4132 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4135 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4136 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4137 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4141 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4145 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4146 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4150 @node Unread Articles
4151 @subsection Unread Articles
4153 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4158 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4159 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4161 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4162 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4163 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4164 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4165 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4169 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4170 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4172 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4173 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4174 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4177 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4178 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4180 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4185 @subsection Read Articles
4186 @cindex expirable mark
4188 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4193 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4194 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4195 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4198 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4199 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4202 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4203 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4204 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4207 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4208 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4211 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4212 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4215 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4216 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4219 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4220 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4223 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4224 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4227 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4228 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4231 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4232 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4236 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4237 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4238 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4242 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4243 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4245 One more special mark, though:
4249 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4250 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4252 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4253 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4254 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4255 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
4261 @subsection Other Marks
4262 @cindex process mark
4265 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4271 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4272 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4273 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4274 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4275 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
4278 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4279 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4280 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4281 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4284 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4285 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4286 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4289 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4290 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4291 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4292 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4295 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4296 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4297 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4298 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4299 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4302 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4303 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4304 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4305 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4306 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4307 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4311 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4312 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4313 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4315 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4316 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4317 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4321 @subsection Setting Marks
4322 @cindex setting marks
4324 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4329 @kindex M c (Summary)
4330 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4331 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4332 @cindex mark as unread
4333 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4334 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4340 @kindex M t (Summary)
4341 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4342 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4343 @xref{Article Caching}.
4348 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4349 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4350 Mark the current article as dormant
4351 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4355 @kindex M d (Summary)
4357 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4358 Mark the current article as read
4359 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4363 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4364 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4365 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4370 @kindex M k (Summary)
4371 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4372 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4373 and then select the next unread article
4374 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4378 @kindex M K (Summary)
4379 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4380 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4381 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4382 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4385 @kindex M C (Summary)
4386 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4387 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4388 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4391 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4392 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4393 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4394 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4397 @kindex M H (Summary)
4398 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4399 Catchup the current group to point
4400 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4403 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4404 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4405 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4406 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4409 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4410 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4411 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4412 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4416 @kindex M e (Summary)
4418 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4419 Mark the current article as expirable
4420 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4423 @kindex M b (Summary)
4424 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4425 Set a bookmark in the current article
4426 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4429 @kindex M B (Summary)
4430 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4431 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4432 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4435 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4436 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4437 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4438 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4441 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4442 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4443 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4444 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4447 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4448 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4449 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4450 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4451 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4454 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4455 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4456 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4457 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4458 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4459 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4460 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4461 The default is @code{t}.
4464 @node Setting Process Marks
4465 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4466 @cindex setting process marks
4473 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4474 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4475 Mark the current article with the process mark
4476 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4477 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4481 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4482 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4483 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4484 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4487 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4488 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4489 Remove the process mark from all articles
4490 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4493 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4494 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4495 Invert the list of process marked articles
4496 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4499 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4500 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4501 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
4502 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4505 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4506 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4507 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4510 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4511 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4512 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4513 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4516 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4517 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4518 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4519 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4522 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4523 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4524 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4525 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4528 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4529 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4530 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4533 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4534 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4535 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4536 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4539 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4540 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4541 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4544 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4545 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4546 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4547 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4550 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4551 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4552 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4553 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4556 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4557 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4558 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4559 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4562 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4563 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4564 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4565 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4574 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4575 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4576 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4579 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
4580 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
4581 additional articles.
4587 @kindex / / (Summary)
4588 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4589 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4590 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4593 @kindex / a (Summary)
4594 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4595 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4596 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4600 @kindex / u (Summary)
4602 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4603 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
4604 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4605 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4606 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4609 @kindex / m (Summary)
4610 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4611 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
4612 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4615 @kindex / t (Summary)
4616 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4617 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
4618 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4619 articles younger than that number of days.
4622 @kindex / n (Summary)
4623 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4624 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4625 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4626 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4629 @kindex / w (Summary)
4630 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4631 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4632 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4636 @kindex / v (Summary)
4637 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4638 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4639 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4643 @kindex M S (Summary)
4644 @kindex / E (Summary)
4645 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4646 Include all expunged articles in the limit
4647 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4650 @kindex / D (Summary)
4651 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4652 Include all dormant articles in the limit
4653 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4656 @kindex / * (Summary)
4657 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
4658 Include all cached articles in the limit
4659 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
4662 @kindex / d (Summary)
4663 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4664 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
4665 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4668 @kindex / T (Summary)
4669 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
4670 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
4673 @kindex / c (Summary)
4674 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4675 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
4676 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4679 @kindex / C (Summary)
4680 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4681 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4682 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4683 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4691 @cindex article threading
4693 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4694 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4695 hierarchical fashion.
4697 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
4698 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
4699 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
4700 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
4701 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
4702 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
4703 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
4705 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
4709 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
4712 A tree-like article structure.
4715 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
4718 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
4719 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
4720 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
4721 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
4722 called loose threads.
4724 @item thread gathering
4725 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
4727 @item sparse threads
4728 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
4729 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
4735 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4736 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4740 @node Customizing Threading
4741 @subsection Customizing Threading
4742 @cindex customizing threading
4745 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
4746 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
4747 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
4748 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
4753 @subsubsection Loose Threads
4756 @cindex loose threads
4759 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4760 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4761 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4762 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4763 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4764 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4766 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
4767 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
4768 There are four possible values:
4772 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
4773 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
4774 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4775 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4776 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4781 @cindex adopting articles
4786 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4787 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4788 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4789 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4792 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4793 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4794 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4795 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4796 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4797 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4798 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4801 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4802 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4803 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4807 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4808 display them after one another.
4811 Don't gather loose threads.
4814 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4815 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4816 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4817 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
4818 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4819 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4820 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
4821 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4822 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4823 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
4824 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4826 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4827 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
4828 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
4831 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4832 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4833 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4834 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4835 simplification is used.
4837 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4838 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4839 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4840 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4842 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4844 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4850 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4851 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4852 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4853 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4858 (mapconcat 'identity
4859 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4861 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4864 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4867 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4868 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4869 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
4870 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
4871 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
4872 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
4874 Useful functions to put in this list include:
4877 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
4878 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
4879 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
4881 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4882 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4885 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
4886 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
4887 Remove excessive whitespace.
4890 You may also write your own functions, of course.
4893 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4894 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4895 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
4896 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
4897 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
4898 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
4899 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
4900 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
4902 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4903 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4904 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
4905 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
4906 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
4907 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
4908 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
4909 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
4910 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
4914 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4915 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4916 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
4917 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
4919 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4920 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4921 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
4924 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
4928 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4929 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
4935 @node Filling In Threads
4936 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
4939 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
4940 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
4941 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
4942 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
4943 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
4944 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
4945 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
4946 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
4947 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
4948 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
4949 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
4950 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
4952 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
4953 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
4954 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
4956 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
4957 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
4958 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
4959 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
4960 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
4961 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
4962 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
4963 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
4964 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
4965 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
4966 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
4967 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
4968 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
4969 @code{nil} by default.
4974 @node More Threading
4975 @subsubsection More Threading
4978 @item gnus-show-threads
4979 @vindex gnus-show-threads
4980 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
4981 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
4982 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
4983 slower and more awkward.
4985 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4986 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4987 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
4990 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
4991 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
4992 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
4993 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
4994 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
4995 threads are expunged.
4997 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
4998 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
4999 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5002 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5003 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5004 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5005 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5006 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5009 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5010 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5011 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5017 @node Low-Level Threading
5018 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5022 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5023 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5024 Hook run before parsing any headers.
5026 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5027 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5028 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5029 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5030 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5031 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5032 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5033 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5034 meaningful. Here's one example:
5037 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5039 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5040 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5042 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5044 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5051 @node Thread Commands
5052 @subsection Thread Commands
5053 @cindex thread commands
5059 @kindex T k (Summary)
5060 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5061 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5062 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5063 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5064 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5069 @kindex T l (Summary)
5070 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5071 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5072 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5073 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5076 @kindex T i (Summary)
5077 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5078 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5079 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5082 @kindex T # (Summary)
5083 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5084 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5085 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5088 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5089 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5090 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5091 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5094 @kindex T T (Summary)
5095 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5096 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5099 @kindex T s (Summary)
5100 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5101 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5102 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5105 @kindex T h (Summary)
5106 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5107 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5110 @kindex T S (Summary)
5111 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5112 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5115 @kindex T H (Summary)
5116 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5117 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5120 @kindex T t (Summary)
5121 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5122 Re-thread the current article's thread
5123 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5124 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5127 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5128 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5129 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5130 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5134 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5135 understand the numeric prefix.
5140 @kindex T n (Summary)
5141 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5142 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5145 @kindex T p (Summary)
5146 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5147 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5150 @kindex T d (Summary)
5151 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5152 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5155 @kindex T u (Summary)
5156 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5157 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5160 @kindex T o (Summary)
5161 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5162 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5165 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5166 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5167 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5168 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5169 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5170 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5171 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5172 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5173 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5174 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5175 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5176 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5183 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5184 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5185 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5186 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5187 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5188 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5189 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5190 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5191 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which is a list of functions.
5192 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5193 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5194 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5195 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5196 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5198 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5199 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5200 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. If you use
5201 more than one function, the primary sort key should be the last function
5202 in the list. You should probably always include
5203 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5204 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5205 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5206 ascending article order.
5208 If you would like to sort by score, then by subject, and finally by
5209 number, you could do something like:
5212 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5213 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5214 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5215 gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score))
5218 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5219 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5220 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5221 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5222 which the articles arrived.
5224 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5228 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5230 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5231 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5234 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5235 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5236 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5237 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5240 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5241 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5242 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5243 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5244 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5245 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5246 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5247 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5248 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5249 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5250 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5251 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5252 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5254 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5258 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5259 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5260 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5265 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5266 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5267 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5268 @cindex article pre-fetch
5271 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5272 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5273 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5274 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5275 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5277 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5278 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
5280 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5281 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5282 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5283 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5284 connection is blocked.
5286 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5287 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5288 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5289 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
5291 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5292 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5293 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5294 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5297 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5300 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5301 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5302 happen automatically.
5304 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5305 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5306 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5307 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5308 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5309 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5310 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5312 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5313 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5314 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5315 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5316 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5317 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5318 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5319 data structure as the only parameter.
5321 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5324 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5325 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5326 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5327 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
5330 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
5333 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
5334 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
5335 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
5337 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
5338 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
5339 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
5340 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
5344 Remove articles when they are read.
5347 Remove articles when exiting the group.
5350 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
5352 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
5353 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
5354 @c from the next group.
5357 @node Article Caching
5358 @section Article Caching
5359 @cindex article caching
5362 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
5363 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
5364 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
5365 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
5366 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
5368 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
5370 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5371 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
5372 @vindex gnus-use-cache
5373 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
5374 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
5375 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
5376 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
5377 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
5379 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
5380 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
5381 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
5382 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
5383 as dormant, and don't worry.
5385 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
5387 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
5388 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
5389 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
5390 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
5391 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
5392 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
5393 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
5394 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
5395 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
5396 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
5398 @findex gnus-jog-cache
5399 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
5400 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
5401 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
5402 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
5403 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
5404 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
5405 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
5406 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
5407 not then be downloaded by this command.
5409 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
5410 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
5411 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
5412 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
5413 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
5414 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
5416 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
5417 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
5418 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
5419 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
5420 variables, the group is not cached.
5422 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
5423 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
5424 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
5425 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
5426 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
5427 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
5428 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
5429 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
5430 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
5434 @node Persistent Articles
5435 @section Persistent Articles
5436 @cindex persistent articles
5438 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
5439 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
5440 useful in my opinion.
5442 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
5443 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
5444 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
5445 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
5446 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
5447 the expiry going on at the news server.
5449 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
5450 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
5451 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
5457 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
5458 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
5461 @kindex M-* (Summary)
5462 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
5463 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
5464 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
5468 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
5470 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
5471 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
5472 interested in persistent articles:
5475 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
5479 @node Article Backlog
5480 @section Article Backlog
5482 @cindex article backlog
5484 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
5485 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
5486 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
5487 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5488 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5489 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5490 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
5491 increase memory usage some.
5493 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5494 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
5495 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5496 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
5497 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5498 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5499 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5501 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5504 @node Saving Articles
5505 @section Saving Articles
5506 @cindex saving articles
5508 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5509 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5510 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5511 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5512 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5514 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5515 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
5516 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5518 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5519 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5520 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5521 deleted before saving.
5527 @kindex O o (Summary)
5529 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5530 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
5531 Save the current article using the default article saver
5532 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5535 @kindex O m (Summary)
5536 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5537 Save the current article in mail format
5538 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5541 @kindex O r (Summary)
5542 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5543 Save the current article in rmail format
5544 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5547 @kindex O f (Summary)
5548 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5549 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
5550 Save the current article in plain file format
5551 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5554 @kindex O F (Summary)
5555 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5556 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5557 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5560 @kindex O b (Summary)
5561 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5562 Save the current article body in plain file format
5563 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5566 @kindex O h (Summary)
5567 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5568 Save the current article in mh folder format
5569 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5572 @kindex O v (Summary)
5573 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5574 Save the current article in a VM folder
5575 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5578 @kindex O p (Summary)
5579 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5580 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5581 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5584 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5585 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5586 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5587 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5588 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5589 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5590 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5591 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5592 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5593 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5594 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5595 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5599 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5600 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5601 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
5602 functions below, or you can create your own.
5606 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5607 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5608 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5609 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5610 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5611 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5612 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5614 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5615 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5616 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5617 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5618 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5619 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5621 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5622 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5623 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5624 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5625 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5626 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5627 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5629 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5630 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5631 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5632 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5633 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5635 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5636 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5637 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5638 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5639 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5642 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5643 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5644 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5645 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5646 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
5648 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5649 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5650 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5651 reader to use this setting.
5654 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5655 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5656 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5657 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5660 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5661 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5662 available functions that generate names:
5666 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5667 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5668 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5670 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5671 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5672 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5674 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5675 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5676 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5678 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5679 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5680 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5683 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5684 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
5685 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
5686 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
5687 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
5691 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5692 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5693 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5694 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5697 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5698 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5699 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5700 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5701 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5702 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5703 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5704 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5705 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5707 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5708 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5709 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5710 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5712 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5713 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5714 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
5717 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
5718 lots of mail groups called things like
5719 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
5720 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
5721 following will do just that:
5724 (defun my-save-name (group)
5725 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
5726 (substring group (match-end 0))))
5728 (setq gnus-split-methods
5729 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
5734 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5735 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5736 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5737 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5738 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5739 all the files in the top level directory
5740 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5741 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5742 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5743 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5745 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5746 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5747 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5748 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5749 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5752 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5756 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5757 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5760 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5761 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5762 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5763 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5766 @node Decoding Articles
5767 @section Decoding Articles
5768 @cindex decoding articles
5770 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5771 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5774 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5775 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
5776 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5777 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
5778 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5779 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5783 @cindex article series
5784 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5785 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5786 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5787 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5788 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5790 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5791 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5792 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5794 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
5795 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5796 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5798 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5799 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5800 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5803 @node Uuencoded Articles
5804 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5806 @cindex uuencoded articles
5811 @kindex X u (Summary)
5812 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5813 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
5814 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5817 @kindex X U (Summary)
5818 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5819 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5820 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5823 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5824 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5825 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5828 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5829 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5830 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5831 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5835 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5836 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5837 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5838 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5839 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5841 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
5842 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
5843 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
5844 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
5847 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
5848 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
5849 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
5850 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
5851 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
5852 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
5856 @node Shell Archives
5857 @subsection Shell Archives
5859 @cindex shell archives
5860 @cindex shared articles
5862 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
5863 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
5864 some commands to deal with these:
5869 @kindex X s (Summary)
5870 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
5871 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
5874 @kindex X S (Summary)
5875 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
5876 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
5879 @kindex X v s (Summary)
5880 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
5881 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
5884 @kindex X v S (Summary)
5885 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
5886 Unshars, views and saves the current series
5887 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
5891 @node PostScript Files
5892 @subsection PostScript Files
5898 @kindex X p (Summary)
5899 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
5900 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
5903 @kindex X P (Summary)
5904 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
5905 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
5906 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
5909 @kindex X v p (Summary)
5910 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
5911 View the current PostScript series
5912 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
5915 @kindex X v P (Summary)
5916 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
5917 View and save the current PostScript series
5918 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
5923 @subsection Other Files
5927 @kindex X o (Summary)
5928 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
5929 Save the current series
5930 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
5933 @kindex X b (Summary)
5934 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
5935 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
5936 doesn't really work yet.
5940 @node Decoding Variables
5941 @subsection Decoding Variables
5943 Adjective, not verb.
5946 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
5947 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
5948 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
5952 @node Rule Variables
5953 @subsubsection Rule Variables
5954 @cindex rule variables
5956 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
5957 variables are of the form
5960 (list '(regexp1 command2)
5967 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5968 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5970 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
5971 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
5974 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5975 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
5978 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5979 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5980 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
5981 user and default view rules.
5983 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5984 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5985 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
5990 @node Other Decode Variables
5991 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
5994 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5996 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5997 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
5998 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
5999 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6000 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6004 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6005 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6008 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6009 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6010 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6013 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6014 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6015 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6016 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6017 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6020 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6021 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6022 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6024 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6025 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6026 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6027 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6028 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6031 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6032 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6033 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6035 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6036 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6037 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6038 looking for files to display.
6040 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6041 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6042 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6045 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6046 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6047 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6050 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6051 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6052 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6055 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6056 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6057 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6060 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6061 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6062 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6063 decoded articles as unread.
6065 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6066 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6067 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6068 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6070 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6071 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6072 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6074 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6075 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6077 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6078 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6079 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6080 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6082 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6083 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6084 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6085 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6086 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6087 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
6088 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6089 simply dropped them.
6094 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6095 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6099 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6100 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6101 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6102 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6103 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6104 for you when you post the article.
6106 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6107 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6108 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6109 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6111 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6112 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6113 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6114 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6115 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6116 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6117 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6119 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6120 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6121 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6122 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6123 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6124 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6125 Default is @code{t}.
6131 @subsection Viewing Files
6132 @cindex viewing files
6133 @cindex pseudo-articles
6135 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
6136 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6137 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6138 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
6139 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6140 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6141 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6143 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6144 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6145 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6146 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6148 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6149 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6150 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6152 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6153 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6154 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6155 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6156 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6158 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6159 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6160 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6161 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6162 a list of parameters to that command.
6164 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6165 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6166 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6168 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6169 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6170 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6173 @node Article Treatment
6174 @section Article Treatment
6176 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6177 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6178 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6179 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6180 these articles easier.
6183 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6184 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6185 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6186 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6187 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6188 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6189 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6193 @node Article Highlighting
6194 @subsection Article Highlighting
6195 @cindex highlighting
6197 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6198 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6203 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6204 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6205 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6206 Do much highlighting of the current article
6207 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6208 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6210 Most users would prefer using @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight} in
6211 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}) instead.
6212 This is a bit less agressive---it highlights only the headers, the
6213 signature and adds buttons.
6216 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6217 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6218 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6219 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6220 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6221 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
6222 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6223 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6224 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6225 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6226 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6229 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6230 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6231 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6233 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6236 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6238 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6239 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6240 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6242 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6243 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6244 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6246 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6247 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6248 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6250 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6251 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6252 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6253 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6254 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6255 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6257 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6258 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6259 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6261 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6262 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6263 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6265 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6266 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6267 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6268 that it's a citation.
6270 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6271 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6272 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6274 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6275 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6276 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6278 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6279 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6280 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6281 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6287 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6288 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6289 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6290 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6291 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6292 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6293 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6294 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6299 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to highlight articles automatically.
6302 @node Article Fontisizing
6303 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6305 @cindex article emphasis
6307 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6308 @kindex W e (Summary)
6309 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6310 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*}. Gnus can make this look nicer by
6311 running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6312 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6314 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
6315 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6316 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
6317 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6318 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6319 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6320 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6321 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6325 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6326 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6327 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
6330 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
6331 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
6332 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
6333 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
6334 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
6335 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
6336 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
6337 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
6338 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
6339 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
6340 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
6341 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
6342 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
6344 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
6345 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
6346 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
6350 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
6353 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to fontize articles automatically.
6356 @node Article Hiding
6357 @subsection Article Hiding
6358 @cindex article hiding
6360 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
6361 too much cruft in most articles.
6366 @kindex W W a (Summary)
6367 @findex gnus-article-hide
6368 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
6369 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
6370 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
6373 @kindex W W h (Summary)
6374 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
6375 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
6379 @kindex W W b (Summary)
6380 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6381 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
6382 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
6385 @kindex W W s (Summary)
6386 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
6387 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
6391 @kindex W W p (Summary)
6392 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
6393 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6394 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
6395 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
6396 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
6397 articles that have signatures in them do:
6399 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
6401 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp)
6403 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
6404 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
6406 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6409 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
6414 @kindex W W P (Summary)
6415 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
6416 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
6417 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
6420 @kindex W W c (Summary)
6421 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
6422 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
6423 customizing the hiding:
6427 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6428 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6429 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6430 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6431 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
6432 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
6433 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
6438 Starting point of the hidden text.
6440 Ending point of the hidden text.
6442 Number of characters in the hidden region.
6444 Number of lines of hidden text.
6447 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
6448 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
6449 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
6454 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
6455 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
6457 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
6458 following two variables:
6461 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6462 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6463 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
6464 50), hide the cited text.
6466 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6467 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6468 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
6473 @kindex W W C (Summary)
6474 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
6475 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
6476 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
6477 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
6478 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
6482 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
6483 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
6484 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
6486 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
6487 citation customization.
6489 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to hide article elements
6493 @node Article Washing
6494 @subsection Article Washing
6496 @cindex article washing
6498 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
6499 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
6501 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
6502 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
6508 @kindex W l (Summary)
6509 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
6510 Remove page breaks from the current article
6511 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article} for page
6515 @kindex W r (Summary)
6516 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
6517 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
6518 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
6519 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
6520 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
6521 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
6523 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
6524 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
6525 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
6526 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
6529 @kindex W t (Summary)
6530 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
6531 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
6532 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
6535 @kindex W v (Summary)
6536 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
6537 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
6538 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
6541 @kindex W m (Summary)
6542 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
6543 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
6544 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
6547 @kindex W o (Summary)
6548 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
6549 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
6552 @kindex W d (Summary)
6553 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
6554 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
6556 @cindex M******** sm*rtq**t*s
6558 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s according to
6559 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
6560 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}).
6563 @kindex W w (Summary)
6564 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
6565 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}). If you use this
6566 function in @code{gnus-article-display-hook}, it should be run fairly
6567 late and certainly after any highlighting.
6569 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
6573 @kindex W c (Summary)
6574 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
6575 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
6576 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
6577 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
6578 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
6581 @kindex W q (Summary)
6582 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
6583 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
6584 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
6585 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
6586 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
6590 @kindex W f (Summary)
6592 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
6593 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
6594 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
6595 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
6601 Look for and display any X-Face headers
6602 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
6603 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
6604 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
6605 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
6606 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
6607 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
6608 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
6609 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
6610 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
6611 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
6612 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
6613 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
6614 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6618 @kindex W b (Summary)
6619 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6620 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6621 @xref{Article Buttons}.
6624 @kindex W B (Summary)
6625 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6626 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6627 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6630 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6631 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6632 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6633 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6636 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6637 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6638 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6639 lines with a single empty line.
6640 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6643 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6644 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6645 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6646 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6649 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6650 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6651 Do all the three commands above
6652 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6655 @kindex W E A (Summary)
6656 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
6657 Remove all blank lines
6658 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
6661 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6662 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6663 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6664 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6668 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to wash articles automatically.
6671 @node Article Buttons
6672 @subsection Article Buttons
6675 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6676 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6677 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
6678 button on these references.
6680 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6681 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6682 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6687 @item gnus-button-alist
6688 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6689 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6692 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6698 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6699 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
6700 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6703 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
6704 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
6705 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6708 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6709 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6710 avoid false matches.
6713 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6716 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6717 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6721 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6724 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6727 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6728 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6729 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6730 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6731 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6734 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6737 @var{HEADER} is a regular expression.
6739 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6740 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6741 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6742 default values of the variables above.
6744 @item gnus-article-button-face
6745 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6746 Face used on buttons.
6748 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
6749 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
6750 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
6754 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to buttonize articles automatically.
6758 @subsection Article Date
6760 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
6761 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
6762 when the article was sent.
6767 @kindex W T u (Summary)
6768 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
6769 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
6770 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
6773 @kindex W T i (Summary)
6774 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
6776 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
6777 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
6780 @kindex W T l (Summary)
6781 @findex gnus-article-date-local
6782 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
6785 @kindex W T s (Summary)
6786 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
6787 @findex gnus-article-date-user
6788 @findex format-time-string
6789 Display the date using a user-defined format
6790 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
6791 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
6792 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
6793 for a list of possible format specs.
6796 @kindex W T e (Summary)
6797 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
6798 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
6799 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
6800 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
6801 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). If you want to have this line
6802 updated continually, you can put
6805 (gnus-start-date-timer)
6808 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
6809 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
6813 @kindex W T o (Summary)
6814 @findex gnus-article-date-original
6815 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
6816 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
6817 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
6818 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
6819 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
6823 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to display the date in your
6824 preferred format automatically.
6827 @node Article Signature
6828 @subsection Article Signature
6830 @cindex article signature
6832 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6833 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
6834 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
6835 that says what is to be considered a signature is
6836 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
6837 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
6838 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
6839 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
6840 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
6843 (setq gnus-signature-separator
6844 '("^-- $" ; The standard
6845 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
6846 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
6847 ; line of dashes. Shame!
6848 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
6849 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
6850 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
6853 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
6856 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
6857 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
6862 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
6865 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
6868 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
6869 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
6871 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
6872 in question is not a signature.
6875 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
6876 listed above. Here's an example:
6879 (setq gnus-signature-limit
6880 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
6883 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
6884 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
6885 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
6886 signature after all.
6890 @section MIME Commands
6891 @cindex MIME decoding
6895 @kindex W M w (Summary)
6896 Decode RFC2047-encoded words in the article headers
6897 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
6900 @kindex W M c (Summary)
6901 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
6902 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
6904 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
6905 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
6906 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
6907 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
6908 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
6909 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
6912 @kindex W M v (Summary)
6913 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
6914 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
6921 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
6922 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
6923 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
6924 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
6927 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
6930 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
6937 @node Article Commands
6938 @section Article Commands
6945 @kindex A P (Summary)
6946 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
6947 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
6948 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
6949 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
6950 run just before printing the buffer.
6955 @node Summary Sorting
6956 @section Summary Sorting
6957 @cindex summary sorting
6959 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
6960 can't really see why you'd want that.
6965 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
6966 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
6967 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
6970 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
6971 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
6972 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
6975 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
6976 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
6977 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
6980 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
6981 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
6982 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
6985 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
6986 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
6987 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
6990 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
6991 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
6992 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
6995 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
6996 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
6997 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
6998 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
6999 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
7003 @node Finding the Parent
7004 @section Finding the Parent
7005 @cindex parent articles
7006 @cindex referring articles
7011 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
7012 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
7013 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
7014 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
7015 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
7016 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
7017 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
7018 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
7019 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
7021 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
7022 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
7023 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
7024 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
7025 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
7029 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
7030 @kindex A R (Summary)
7031 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
7032 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
7035 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
7036 @kindex A T (Summary)
7037 Display the full thread where the current article appears
7038 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
7039 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
7040 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
7041 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
7042 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
7043 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
7045 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
7046 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
7047 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
7048 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
7049 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
7050 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
7053 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
7054 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
7056 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
7057 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
7058 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
7059 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
7060 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
7061 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
7062 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
7065 The current select method will be used when fetching by
7066 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
7067 by giving this command a prefix.
7069 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
7070 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
7071 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
7072 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
7073 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
7074 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
7077 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
7078 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
7079 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
7080 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
7081 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
7082 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
7085 @node Alternative Approaches
7086 @section Alternative Approaches
7088 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
7089 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
7092 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
7093 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
7098 @subsection Pick and Read
7099 @cindex pick and read
7101 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
7102 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
7103 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
7104 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
7106 @findex gnus-pick-mode
7107 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
7108 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
7109 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
7110 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
7111 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
7113 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
7118 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
7119 Pick the article or thread on the current line
7120 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7121 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
7122 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
7123 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
7124 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
7125 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
7128 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
7129 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
7130 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
7131 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
7135 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
7136 Unpick the thread or article
7137 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7138 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
7139 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
7140 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
7141 the thread or article at that line.
7145 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
7146 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
7147 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
7148 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
7149 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
7150 will still be visible when you are reading.
7154 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
7155 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
7156 which is mapped to the same function
7157 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
7159 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
7162 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
7165 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
7166 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
7168 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
7169 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
7170 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
7172 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
7173 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
7174 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
7175 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
7176 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
7177 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
7178 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
7182 @subsection Binary Groups
7183 @cindex binary groups
7185 @findex gnus-binary-mode
7186 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
7187 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
7188 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
7189 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
7190 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
7191 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
7194 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
7195 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
7196 command, when you have turned on this mode
7197 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
7199 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
7200 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
7204 @section Tree Display
7207 @vindex gnus-use-trees
7208 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
7209 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
7210 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
7213 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
7216 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
7217 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
7218 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
7220 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7221 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7222 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
7223 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
7224 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
7226 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
7227 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
7228 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
7229 default is @code{modeline}.
7231 @item gnus-tree-line-format
7232 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
7233 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
7234 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
7235 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
7236 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
7237 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
7243 The name of the poster.
7245 The @code{From} header.
7247 The number of the article.
7249 The opening bracket.
7251 The closing bracket.
7256 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7258 Variables related to the display are:
7261 @item gnus-tree-brackets
7262 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
7263 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
7264 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
7265 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
7266 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
7268 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7269 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7270 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
7271 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
7275 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
7276 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
7277 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
7278 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
7279 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
7280 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
7281 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
7282 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
7283 other windows displayed next to it.
7285 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
7286 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
7287 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7288 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
7289 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
7290 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
7291 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
7295 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
7298 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
7308 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
7312 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
7313 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
7315 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
7317 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
7322 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
7323 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
7324 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
7327 (setq gnus-use-trees t
7328 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7329 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
7330 (gnus-add-configuration
7334 (summary 0.75 point)
7339 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
7342 @node Mail Group Commands
7343 @section Mail Group Commands
7344 @cindex mail group commands
7346 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
7347 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
7349 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
7350 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7355 @kindex B e (Summary)
7356 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
7357 Expire all expirable articles in the group
7358 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
7361 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
7362 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
7363 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
7364 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
7365 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
7366 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
7369 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
7370 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
7371 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
7372 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
7373 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
7374 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
7377 @kindex B m (Summary)
7379 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
7380 Move the article from one mail group to another
7381 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7384 @kindex B c (Summary)
7386 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
7387 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
7388 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
7389 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
7392 @kindex B B (Summary)
7393 @cindex crosspost mail
7394 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
7395 Crosspost the current article to some other group
7396 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
7397 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
7398 be properly updated.
7401 @kindex B i (Summary)
7402 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
7403 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
7404 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
7405 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
7408 @kindex B r (Summary)
7409 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
7410 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
7411 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
7412 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
7413 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
7417 @kindex B w (Summary)
7419 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
7420 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
7421 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
7422 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
7423 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
7424 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
7427 @kindex B q (Summary)
7428 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
7429 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
7430 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
7431 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
7434 @kindex B t (Summary)
7435 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
7436 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
7437 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
7440 @kindex B p (Summary)
7441 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
7442 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
7443 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
7444 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
7445 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
7446 article from your news server (or rather, from
7447 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
7448 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
7449 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
7450 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
7451 just not have arrived yet.
7455 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
7456 @cindex moving articles
7457 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
7458 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
7459 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
7460 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
7461 suggestions you find reasonable.
7464 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
7465 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
7466 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
7467 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
7471 @node Various Summary Stuff
7472 @section Various Summary Stuff
7475 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
7476 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
7477 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
7478 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
7482 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
7483 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
7484 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
7486 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
7487 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
7488 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
7489 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
7490 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
7491 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
7494 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7495 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7496 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
7497 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
7498 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
7500 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7501 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7502 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
7505 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7506 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7507 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
7508 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
7509 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
7510 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
7511 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
7512 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
7513 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
7514 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
7519 @node Summary Group Information
7520 @subsection Summary Group Information
7525 @kindex H f (Summary)
7526 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
7527 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
7528 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
7529 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
7530 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
7531 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
7532 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
7533 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
7534 be used for fetching the file.
7537 @kindex H d (Summary)
7538 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
7539 Give a brief description of the current group
7540 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
7541 rereading the description from the server.
7544 @kindex H h (Summary)
7545 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
7546 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
7547 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
7550 @kindex H i (Summary)
7551 @findex gnus-info-find-node
7552 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
7556 @node Searching for Articles
7557 @subsection Searching for Articles
7562 @kindex M-s (Summary)
7563 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
7564 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
7565 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
7568 @kindex M-r (Summary)
7569 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
7570 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
7571 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
7575 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
7576 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
7577 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
7578 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
7582 @kindex M-& (Summary)
7583 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
7584 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
7585 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
7588 @node Summary Generation Commands
7589 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
7594 @kindex Y g (Summary)
7595 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
7596 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
7599 @kindex Y c (Summary)
7600 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
7601 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
7602 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
7607 @node Really Various Summary Commands
7608 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
7613 @kindex C-d (Summary)
7614 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
7615 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
7616 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
7617 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
7618 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
7619 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
7620 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
7621 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
7625 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
7626 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
7627 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
7628 several documents into one biiig group
7629 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
7630 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
7631 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
7632 command understands the process/prefix convention
7633 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7636 @kindex C-t (Summary)
7637 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
7638 Toggle truncation of summary lines
7639 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
7640 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
7641 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
7645 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
7646 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
7647 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
7650 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
7651 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
7652 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7653 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
7658 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
7659 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
7660 @cindex summary exit
7661 @cindex exiting groups
7663 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
7664 group and return you to the group buffer.
7670 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
7672 @findex gnus-summary-exit
7673 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
7674 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
7675 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
7676 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
7677 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
7678 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
7679 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
7680 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
7681 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
7682 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
7686 @kindex Z E (Summary)
7688 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
7689 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
7690 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
7694 @kindex Z c (Summary)
7696 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
7697 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
7698 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
7699 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
7702 @kindex Z C (Summary)
7703 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
7704 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
7705 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
7708 @kindex Z n (Summary)
7709 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
7710 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
7711 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
7714 @kindex Z R (Summary)
7715 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
7716 Exit this group, and then enter it again
7717 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
7718 all articles, both read and unread.
7722 @kindex Z G (Summary)
7723 @kindex M-g (Summary)
7724 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
7725 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
7726 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
7727 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
7728 articles, both read and unread.
7731 @kindex Z N (Summary)
7732 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
7733 Exit the group and go to the next group
7734 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
7737 @kindex Z P (Summary)
7738 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
7739 Exit the group and go to the previous group
7740 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
7743 @kindex Z s (Summary)
7744 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
7745 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
7746 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
7747 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
7748 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
7751 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
7752 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
7755 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
7756 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
7757 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
7758 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
7759 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
7760 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
7761 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
7762 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
7763 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
7764 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
7765 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
7766 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
7768 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
7770 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
7771 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
7772 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
7773 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
7774 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
7775 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
7776 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
7777 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
7778 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
7781 @node Crosspost Handling
7782 @section Crosspost Handling
7786 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
7787 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
7788 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
7789 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
7790 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
7791 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
7794 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
7795 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
7796 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
7797 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
7798 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
7800 @cindex cross-posting
7803 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
7804 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
7805 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
7806 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
7807 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
7808 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
7809 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
7810 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
7811 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
7812 the cross reference mechanism.
7814 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
7815 @cindex overview.fmt
7816 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
7817 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
7818 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
7819 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
7820 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
7821 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
7824 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
7825 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
7826 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
7831 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
7834 @node Duplicate Suppression
7835 @section Duplicate Suppression
7837 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
7838 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
7839 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
7840 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
7845 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
7846 is evil and not very common.
7849 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
7850 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
7853 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
7854 different @sc{nntp} servers.
7857 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
7860 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
7861 well, but these four are the most common situations.
7863 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
7864 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
7865 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
7866 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
7867 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
7868 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
7869 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
7872 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
7873 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
7874 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
7875 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
7876 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
7880 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
7881 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
7882 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
7884 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
7885 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
7886 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
7887 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
7888 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
7889 session are suppressed.
7891 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
7892 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
7893 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
7894 suppression list. The default is 10000.
7896 @item gnus-duplicate-file
7897 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
7898 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
7899 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
7902 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
7903 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
7904 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
7905 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
7906 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
7907 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
7908 to you to figure out, I think.
7911 @node The Article Buffer
7912 @chapter The Article Buffer
7913 @cindex article buffer
7915 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
7916 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
7917 tell Gnus otherwise.
7920 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
7921 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
7922 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
7923 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
7924 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
7928 @node Hiding Headers
7929 @section Hiding Headers
7930 @cindex hiding headers
7931 @cindex deleting headers
7933 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
7934 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
7936 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
7937 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
7938 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
7939 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
7940 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
7941 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
7942 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
7943 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
7944 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
7946 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
7950 @item gnus-visible-headers
7951 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
7952 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
7953 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
7954 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
7956 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
7957 the article and the subject, you'd say:
7960 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
7963 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
7966 @item gnus-ignored-headers
7967 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
7968 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
7969 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
7970 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
7971 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
7973 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
7974 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
7977 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
7980 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
7983 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
7984 variable will have no effect.
7988 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
7989 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
7990 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
7991 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
7992 the headers are to be displayed.
7994 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
7995 and then the subject, you might say something like:
7998 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
8001 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
8002 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
8004 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8005 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
8006 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
8007 You can hide further boring headers by entering
8008 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
8009 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
8010 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
8011 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
8012 @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove from sight.
8014 These conditions are:
8017 Remove all empty headers.
8019 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
8020 @code{Newsgroups} header.
8022 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
8025 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
8028 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
8031 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
8033 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
8036 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
8039 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
8040 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
8043 This is also the default value for this variable.
8047 @section Using @sc{mime}
8050 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
8051 while people stand around yawning.
8053 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
8054 while all newsreaders die of fear.
8056 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
8057 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
8058 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
8060 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
8061 @findex gnus-display-mime
8062 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
8063 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
8064 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
8065 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
8067 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
8071 @findex gnus-article-press-button
8073 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
8074 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
8075 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
8077 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
8078 @item M-RET (Article)
8080 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
8081 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
8083 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
8085 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
8086 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
8088 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
8090 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
8091 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
8093 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
8095 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
8098 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
8099 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
8102 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
8103 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
8104 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
8105 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
8106 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
8107 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
8108 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
8109 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
8110 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
8112 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
8115 @node Customizing Articles
8116 @section Customizing Articles
8117 @cindex article customization
8119 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
8120 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
8121 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
8122 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
8124 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
8125 @findex gnus-article-maybe-hide-headers
8126 By default this hook just contains
8127 @code{gnus-article-maybe-hide-headers},
8128 @code{gnus-hide-boring-headers}, @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike},
8129 and @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight} (and under XEmacs,
8130 @code{gnus-article-display-x-face}), but there are thousands, nay
8131 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
8132 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
8133 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
8134 Date}. Note that the order of functions in this hook might affect
8135 things, so you may have to fiddle a bit to get the desired results.
8137 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
8138 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
8139 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
8140 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
8141 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
8144 @node Article Keymap
8145 @section Article Keymap
8147 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
8148 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
8149 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
8150 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
8153 A few additional keystrokes are available:
8158 @kindex SPACE (Article)
8159 @findex gnus-article-next-page
8160 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
8163 @kindex DEL (Article)
8164 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
8165 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
8168 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
8169 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
8170 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
8171 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
8172 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
8175 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
8176 @findex gnus-article-mail
8177 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
8178 given a prefix, include the mail.
8182 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
8183 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
8184 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
8188 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
8189 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
8190 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
8193 @kindex TAB (Article)
8194 @findex gnus-article-next-button
8195 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
8196 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
8199 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
8200 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
8201 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
8207 @section Misc Article
8211 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
8212 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
8213 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
8214 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
8217 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
8218 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
8220 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
8221 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
8223 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
8224 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
8225 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
8226 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
8227 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
8228 the contents of the article buffer.
8230 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
8231 @item gnus-article-display-hook
8232 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
8233 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
8234 hiding headers, and the like.
8236 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
8237 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
8238 Hook called in article mode buffers.
8240 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8241 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8242 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
8243 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
8245 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
8246 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
8247 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
8248 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
8249 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with one
8254 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
8255 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
8259 @vindex gnus-break-pages
8261 @item gnus-break-pages
8262 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
8263 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
8264 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
8265 paging will not be done.
8267 @item gnus-page-delimiter
8268 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
8269 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
8274 @node Composing Messages
8275 @chapter Composing Messages
8276 @cindex composing messages
8279 @cindex sending mail
8284 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
8285 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
8286 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
8287 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
8288 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
8289 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
8290 to make Gnus try to post using the foreign server.
8293 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
8294 * Post:: Posting and following up.
8295 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
8296 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
8297 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
8298 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
8299 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
8300 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
8303 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
8304 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
8310 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
8313 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
8314 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
8315 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
8316 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
8318 @item gnus-add-to-list
8319 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
8320 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
8321 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
8329 Variables for composing news articles:
8332 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8333 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8334 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
8335 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
8336 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
8337 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
8338 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
8339 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
8340 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
8343 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8344 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8345 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
8346 file. It is 1000 by default.
8351 @node Posting Server
8352 @section Posting Server
8354 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
8355 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
8357 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
8359 @vindex gnus-post-method
8361 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
8362 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
8363 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
8364 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
8365 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
8368 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
8371 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
8372 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
8373 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
8374 the ``current'' server for posting.
8376 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
8377 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
8379 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
8380 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
8383 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
8384 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
8385 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
8390 @section Mail and Post
8392 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
8396 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
8397 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
8398 @cindex mailing lists
8400 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
8401 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
8402 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
8403 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
8404 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
8405 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
8406 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
8407 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
8408 still a pain, though.
8412 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
8413 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
8414 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
8417 @findex ispell-message
8419 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
8423 @node Archived Messages
8424 @section Archived Messages
8425 @cindex archived messages
8426 @cindex sent messages
8428 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
8429 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
8430 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
8431 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
8434 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
8435 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
8436 use to store sent messages. The default is:
8440 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
8441 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
8442 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
8443 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
8446 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
8447 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
8448 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
8449 directory chosen, you could say something like:
8452 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
8453 '(nnfolder "archive"
8454 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
8455 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
8456 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
8459 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
8461 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
8462 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
8463 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
8465 This variable can be used to do the following:
8469 Messages will be saved in that group.
8470 @item a list of strings
8471 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
8472 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
8473 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
8475 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
8480 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
8482 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
8485 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
8487 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
8490 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
8492 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8493 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
8494 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
8495 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
8500 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8501 '((if (message-news-p)
8506 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
8507 messages in one file per month:
8510 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8511 '((if (message-news-p)
8513 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
8514 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
8517 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
8518 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
8520 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
8521 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
8522 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
8523 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
8524 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
8525 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
8526 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
8527 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
8528 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
8529 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
8531 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
8532 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
8533 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
8534 this will disable archiving.
8537 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
8538 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
8539 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
8540 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
8541 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
8544 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
8545 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
8546 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
8549 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
8550 but the latter is the preferred method.
8554 @node Posting Styles
8555 @section Posting Styles
8556 @cindex posting styles
8559 All them variables, they make my head swim.
8561 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
8562 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
8563 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
8566 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
8567 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
8568 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
8569 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
8570 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
8575 (signature "Peace and happiness")
8576 (organization "What me?"))
8578 (signature "Death to everybody"))
8579 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
8580 (organization "Emacs is it")))
8583 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
8584 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
8585 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
8586 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
8587 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
8588 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
8589 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
8590 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
8592 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
8593 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
8594 If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
8595 arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
8596 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
8597 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
8600 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
8601 attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
8602 can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
8603 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
8604 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
8605 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
8608 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
8609 return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
8610 list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
8612 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
8613 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
8614 of the two dynamically bound variables @code{message-this-is-news} and
8615 @code{message-this-is-mail}.
8617 @vindex message-this-is-mail
8618 @vindex message-this-is-news
8620 So here's a new example:
8623 (setq gnus-posting-styles
8625 (signature-file "~/.signature")
8627 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
8628 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
8630 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
8631 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
8632 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
8633 (message-this-is-news
8634 (signature my-news-signature))
8635 (posting-from-work-p
8636 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
8637 (address "user@@bar.foo")
8638 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
8639 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
8641 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
8649 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
8650 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
8651 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
8652 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
8653 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
8655 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
8656 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
8657 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
8658 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
8659 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
8663 @vindex nndraft-directory
8664 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
8665 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
8666 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
8667 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
8668 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
8669 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
8671 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
8672 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
8675 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
8676 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
8677 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
8678 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
8679 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
8680 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
8681 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
8682 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
8683 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
8684 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
8685 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
8686 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
8687 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
8688 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
8690 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
8691 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
8692 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
8694 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
8696 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
8697 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
8698 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
8700 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
8703 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
8704 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
8705 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
8706 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
8707 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
8708 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
8709 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
8712 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
8713 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
8714 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
8717 @node Rejected Articles
8718 @section Rejected Articles
8719 @cindex rejected articles
8721 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
8722 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
8723 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
8724 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
8726 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
8727 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
8728 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
8729 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
8730 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
8732 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
8733 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
8734 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
8737 @node Select Methods
8738 @chapter Select Methods
8739 @cindex foreign groups
8740 @cindex select methods
8742 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
8743 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
8744 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
8745 personal mail group.
8747 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
8748 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
8749 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
8750 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
8751 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
8752 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
8754 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
8755 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
8757 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
8760 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
8761 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
8762 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
8763 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
8764 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
8766 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
8769 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
8770 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
8771 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
8772 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
8773 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
8774 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
8778 @node The Server Buffer
8779 @section The Server Buffer
8781 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
8782 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
8783 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
8784 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
8785 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
8786 backend represents a virtual server.
8788 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
8789 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
8790 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
8791 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
8793 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
8794 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
8795 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
8796 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
8797 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
8798 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
8799 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
8801 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
8802 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
8805 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
8806 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
8807 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
8808 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
8809 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
8810 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
8811 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
8814 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
8815 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
8818 @node Server Buffer Format
8819 @subsection Server Buffer Format
8820 @cindex server buffer format
8822 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
8823 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
8824 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
8825 variable, with some simple extensions:
8830 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
8833 The name of this server.
8836 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
8839 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
8842 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
8843 The mode line can also be customized by using the
8844 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
8845 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
8855 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
8858 @node Server Commands
8859 @subsection Server Commands
8860 @cindex server commands
8866 @findex gnus-server-add-server
8867 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
8871 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
8872 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
8875 @kindex SPACE (Server)
8876 @findex gnus-server-read-server
8877 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
8881 @findex gnus-server-exit
8882 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
8886 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
8887 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
8891 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
8892 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
8896 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
8897 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
8901 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
8902 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
8906 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
8907 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
8908 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
8913 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
8914 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
8915 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
8916 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
8921 @node Example Methods
8922 @subsection Example Methods
8924 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
8927 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
8930 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
8936 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
8937 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
8940 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
8941 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
8943 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
8944 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
8948 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
8951 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
8952 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
8954 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
8955 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
8956 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
8960 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
8963 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
8966 Here's the method for a public spool:
8970 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
8971 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
8974 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
8975 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
8976 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
8977 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
8978 should probably look something like this:
8982 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
8983 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
8984 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
8985 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
8986 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
8989 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
8990 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
8991 server that would look something like this:
8995 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
8996 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
8997 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
8998 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
8999 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9000 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
9003 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
9004 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
9005 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
9006 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
9009 @node Creating a Virtual Server
9010 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
9012 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
9013 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
9015 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
9016 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
9017 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
9019 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
9021 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
9022 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
9023 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
9024 will contain the following:
9034 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
9035 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
9036 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
9039 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
9040 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
9041 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
9044 @node Server Variables
9045 @subsection Server Variables
9047 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
9048 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
9049 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
9050 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
9051 won't change the "derived" variables.
9053 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
9054 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
9055 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
9056 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
9057 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
9058 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
9059 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
9060 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
9061 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
9065 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
9066 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
9067 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
9071 @node Servers and Methods
9072 @subsection Servers and Methods
9074 Wherever you would normally use a select method
9075 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
9076 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
9077 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
9081 @node Unavailable Servers
9082 @subsection Unavailable Servers
9084 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
9085 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
9086 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
9087 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
9088 actually the case or not.
9090 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
9091 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
9092 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
9093 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
9094 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
9095 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
9096 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
9097 it will regard that server as ``down''.
9099 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
9100 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
9102 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
9103 with the following commands:
9109 @findex gnus-server-open-server
9110 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
9111 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
9115 @findex gnus-server-close-server
9116 Close the connection (if any) to the server
9117 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
9121 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
9122 Mark the current server as unreachable
9123 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
9126 @kindex M-o (Server)
9127 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
9128 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
9129 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
9132 @kindex M-c (Server)
9133 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
9134 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
9135 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
9139 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
9140 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
9141 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
9147 @section Getting News
9148 @cindex reading news
9149 @cindex news backends
9151 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
9152 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
9153 or it can read from a local spool.
9156 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
9157 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
9162 @subsection @sc{nntp}
9165 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
9166 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
9167 server as the, uhm, address.
9169 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
9170 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
9171 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
9172 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9174 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
9175 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
9176 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
9178 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
9183 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
9184 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
9185 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
9187 @cindex authentification
9188 @cindex nntp authentification
9189 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9190 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
9191 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
9192 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
9193 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
9194 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
9195 present in this hook.
9197 @item nntp-authinfo-function
9198 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
9199 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9200 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
9201 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
9202 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
9203 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
9204 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
9205 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
9206 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
9207 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
9208 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
9212 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
9215 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
9216 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
9217 @samp{default} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a valid
9218 @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is the only way the
9219 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
9224 Here's an example file:
9227 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
9228 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
9231 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
9232 have to be first, for instance.
9234 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
9235 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
9236 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
9237 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
9238 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
9239 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
9240 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
9242 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
9243 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
9249 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
9250 previously mentioned.
9252 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
9254 @item nntp-server-action-alist
9255 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
9256 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
9257 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
9258 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
9261 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
9265 You probably don't want to do that, though.
9267 The default value is
9270 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
9271 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
9274 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
9275 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
9277 @item nntp-maximum-request
9278 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
9279 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
9280 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
9281 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
9282 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
9283 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
9284 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
9286 @item nntp-connection-timeout
9287 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
9288 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
9289 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
9290 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
9291 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
9292 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
9293 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
9294 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
9295 no timeouts are done.
9297 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
9298 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
9299 @c @cindex PPP connections
9300 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
9301 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
9302 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
9303 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
9304 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
9305 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
9306 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
9307 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
9308 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
9309 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
9311 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
9312 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
9313 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
9314 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
9317 @item nntp-server-hook
9318 @vindex nntp-server-hook
9319 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
9322 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
9323 @findex nntp-open-telnet
9324 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
9325 @item nntp-open-connection-function
9326 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
9327 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
9328 functions are supplied:
9331 @item nntp-open-network-stream
9332 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
9335 @item nntp-open-rlogin
9336 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
9337 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
9340 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
9344 @item nntp-rlogin-program
9345 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
9346 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
9347 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
9349 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
9350 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
9351 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
9353 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9354 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9355 User name on the remote system.
9359 @item nntp-open-telnet
9360 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
9361 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
9363 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
9366 @item nntp-telnet-command
9367 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
9368 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
9370 @item nntp-telnet-switches
9371 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
9372 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
9374 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
9375 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
9376 User name for log in on the remote system.
9378 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
9379 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
9380 Password to use when logging in.
9382 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
9383 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
9384 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
9387 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9388 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9389 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
9390 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
9392 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9393 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9394 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
9395 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
9396 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
9400 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
9401 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
9402 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
9403 you must have SSLay installed
9404 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
9405 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
9406 define a server as follows:
9409 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
9411 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
9413 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
9414 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
9415 (nntp-port-number "snews")
9416 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
9421 @item nntp-end-of-line
9422 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
9423 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
9424 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
9425 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
9427 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9428 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9429 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
9433 @vindex nntp-address
9434 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
9436 @item nntp-port-number
9437 @vindex nntp-port-number
9438 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
9441 @item nntp-buggy-select
9442 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
9443 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
9445 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
9446 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
9447 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
9448 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
9451 @item nntp-xover-commands
9452 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
9455 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
9456 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
9460 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
9461 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
9462 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
9463 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
9464 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
9465 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
9466 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
9467 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
9468 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
9469 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
9470 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
9472 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
9473 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
9474 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
9476 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9477 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9478 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
9479 server closes connection.
9481 @item nntp-record-commands
9482 @vindex nntp-record-commands
9483 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
9484 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
9485 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
9486 that doesn't seem to work.
9492 @subsection News Spool
9496 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
9497 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
9498 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
9501 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
9502 anything else) as the address.
9504 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
9505 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
9506 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
9507 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
9511 @item nnspool-inews-program
9512 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
9513 Program used to post an article.
9515 @item nnspool-inews-switches
9516 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
9517 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
9519 @item nnspool-spool-directory
9520 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
9521 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
9522 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
9524 @item nnspool-nov-directory
9525 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
9526 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
9527 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
9529 @item nnspool-lib-dir
9530 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
9531 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
9533 @item nnspool-active-file
9534 @vindex nnspool-active-file
9535 The path to the active file.
9537 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
9538 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
9539 The path to the group descriptions file.
9541 @item nnspool-history-file
9542 @vindex nnspool-history-file
9543 The path to the news history file.
9545 @item nnspool-active-times-file
9546 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
9547 The path to the active date file.
9549 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
9550 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
9551 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
9554 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9555 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9557 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
9558 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
9559 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
9565 @section Getting Mail
9566 @cindex reading mail
9569 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
9573 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
9574 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
9575 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
9576 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
9577 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
9578 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
9579 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
9580 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
9581 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
9582 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
9583 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
9587 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
9588 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
9590 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
9591 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
9592 and things will happen automatically.
9594 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
9595 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
9598 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
9599 '((nnml "private")))
9602 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
9603 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
9604 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
9605 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
9606 like any other group.
9608 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
9611 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9612 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9613 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9617 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
9618 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
9619 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
9622 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
9623 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
9624 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
9627 @node Splitting Mail
9628 @subsection Splitting Mail
9629 @cindex splitting mail
9630 @cindex mail splitting
9632 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
9633 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
9634 to be split into groups.
9637 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9638 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9639 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9643 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
9644 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
9645 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
9646 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
9647 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
9648 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
9649 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
9652 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
9655 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
9656 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
9657 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
9658 mail belongs in that group.
9660 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
9661 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
9662 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
9663 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
9664 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
9665 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
9667 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
9668 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
9669 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
9670 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
9671 thinks should carry this mail message.
9673 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
9674 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
9675 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
9676 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
9678 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
9679 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
9680 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
9681 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
9682 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
9684 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
9687 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
9688 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
9689 links. If that's the case for you, set
9690 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
9691 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
9693 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
9694 @kindex nnmail-split-history
9695 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
9696 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
9698 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
9699 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
9700 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
9701 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
9702 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
9703 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
9704 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
9705 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
9709 @node Mail Backend Variables
9710 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
9712 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
9716 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9717 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9718 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
9719 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
9721 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
9722 @item nnmail-spool-file
9726 @vindex nnmail-pop-password
9727 @vindex nnmail-pop-password-required
9728 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
9729 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
9730 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
9731 @samp{larsi}, you should set this variable to @samp{po:larsi}. If
9732 your name is not @samp{larsi}, you should probably modify that
9733 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
9734 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
9735 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
9736 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
9737 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable. If the POP server needs a
9738 password, you can either set @code{nnmail-pop-password-required} to
9739 @code{t} and be prompted for the password, or set
9740 @code{nnmail-pop-password} to the password itself.
9742 @code{nnmail-spool-file} can also be a list of mailboxes.
9744 Your Emacs has to have been configured with @samp{--with-pop} before
9745 compilation. This is the default, but some installations have it
9748 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
9749 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
9750 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
9751 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
9752 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
9753 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
9755 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
9756 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
9757 @item nnmail-use-procmail
9758 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
9759 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
9760 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
9761 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
9764 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
9765 @item nnmail-crash-box
9766 When a mail backend reads a spool file, mail is first moved to this
9767 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
9768 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
9771 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
9772 @item nnmail-split-hook
9773 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
9774 @findex RFC1522 decoding
9775 @findex RFC2047 decoding
9776 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
9777 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
9778 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
9779 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
9780 in the buffer will show up in any files.
9781 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
9784 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9785 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9786 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9787 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9788 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
9789 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
9790 starting to handle the new mail) and
9791 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
9792 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
9793 default file modes the new mail files get:
9796 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9797 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
9799 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
9800 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
9803 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
9804 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
9805 This variable says where to move incoming mail to -- while processing
9806 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
9807 inhabits (e.g., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
9808 it will be used instead.
9810 @item nnmail-movemail-program
9811 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
9812 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
9813 directory. The default is @samp{movemail}.
9815 This can also be a function. In that case, the function will be called
9816 with two parameters -- the name of the inbox, and the file to be moved
9819 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
9820 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
9821 @cindex incoming mail files
9822 @cindex deleting incoming files
9823 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
9824 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{t} by
9827 @c This is @code{nil} by
9828 @c default for reasons of security.
9830 @c Since Red Gnus is an alpha release, it is to be expected to lose mail.
9831 (No Gnus release since (ding) Gnus 0.10 (or something like that) have
9832 lost mail, I think, but that's not the point. (Except certain versions
9833 of Red Gnus.)) By not deleting the Incoming* files, one can be sure not
9834 to lose mail -- if Gnus totally whacks out, one can always recover what
9837 You may delete the @file{Incoming*} files at will.
9839 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
9840 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
9841 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
9842 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
9843 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
9844 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
9845 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
9847 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
9848 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
9850 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
9852 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9853 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9854 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
9855 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
9856 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
9861 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
9862 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
9863 @cindex mail splitting
9864 @cindex fancy mail splitting
9866 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
9867 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
9868 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
9869 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
9870 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
9871 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
9873 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
9876 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
9877 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
9878 ;; from real errors.
9879 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
9881 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
9882 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
9883 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
9884 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
9885 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
9886 ;; Other mailing lists...
9887 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
9888 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
9890 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
9891 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
9895 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
9896 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
9897 the five possible split syntaxes:
9902 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
9903 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
9907 @var{(FIELD VALUE SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, the first element of
9908 which is a string, then store the message as specified by SPLIT, if
9909 header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp).
9912 @var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9913 @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
9914 matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
9915 be stored in one or more groups.
9918 @var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9919 @code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
9922 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
9923 this message. Use with extreme caution.
9926 @var{(: function arg1 arg2 ...)}: If the split is a list, and the first
9927 element is @code{:}, then the second element will be called as a
9928 function with @var{args} given as arguments. The function should return
9932 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
9936 In these splits, @var{FIELD} must match a complete field name.
9937 @var{VALUE} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
9938 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
9939 field names or words. In other words, all @var{VALUE}'s are wrapped in
9940 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
9942 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
9943 @var{FIELD} and @var{VALUE} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
9944 are expanded as specified by the variable
9945 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
9946 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
9949 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
9950 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
9951 when all this splitting is performed.
9953 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
9954 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
9955 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
9958 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
9961 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
9962 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
9963 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
9964 groupings 1 through 9.
9967 @node Mail and Procmail
9968 @subsection Mail and Procmail
9973 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
9974 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
9975 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
9976 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
9977 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
9979 If you have a combined @code{procmail}/POP/mailbox setup, you can do
9980 something like the following:
9982 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
9984 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
9985 (setq nnmail-spool-file
9986 '("/usr/spool/mail/my-name" "po:my-name"))
9989 This also means that you probably don't want to set
9990 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
9993 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
9994 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
9995 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends, except
9996 @code{nnmh}, actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
9997 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
9998 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
10000 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) by hand what
10003 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example:
10005 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
10006 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
10008 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
10009 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
10010 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
10011 to include all your mail groups.
10013 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
10014 method will be created automatically.
10016 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
10017 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
10018 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
10019 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
10020 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
10021 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
10022 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
10023 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
10025 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
10026 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
10027 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
10028 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
10029 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
10031 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
10032 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directly into an @code{nnmh}
10033 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
10034 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
10035 ever expiring the final article (i.e., the article with the highest
10036 article number) in a mail newsgroup. This is quite, quite important.
10038 Here's an example setup: The incoming spools are located in
10039 @file{~/incoming/} and have @samp{""} as suffixes (i.e., the incoming
10040 spool files have the same names as the equivalent groups). The
10041 @code{nnfolder} backend is to be used as the mail interface, and the
10042 @code{nnfolder} directory is @file{~/fMail/}.
10045 (setq nnfolder-directory "~/fMail/")
10046 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
10047 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/incoming/")
10048 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnfolder "")))
10049 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "")
10053 @node Incorporating Old Mail
10054 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
10056 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
10057 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
10058 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
10061 Doing so can be quite easy.
10063 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
10064 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
10065 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
10066 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
10067 your @code{nnml} groups.
10073 Go to the group buffer.
10076 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
10077 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10080 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
10083 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
10084 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
10087 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
10088 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
10091 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
10092 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
10093 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
10094 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
10095 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
10097 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
10098 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
10099 using the new mail backend.
10102 @node Expiring Mail
10103 @subsection Expiring Mail
10104 @cindex article expiry
10106 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
10107 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
10108 different approach to mail reading.
10110 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
10111 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
10112 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
10113 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
10114 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
10115 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
10118 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
10119 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
10120 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
10121 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
10122 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
10123 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
10124 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
10125 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
10127 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10128 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
10129 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
10130 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
10131 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
10132 column in the summary buffer.
10134 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
10135 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
10136 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
10137 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
10140 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
10142 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
10143 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
10144 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
10147 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
10148 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
10149 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
10150 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
10151 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
10153 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
10154 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
10157 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10158 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
10161 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
10162 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
10164 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
10165 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
10166 don't really mix very well.
10168 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
10169 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
10170 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
10171 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
10174 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
10175 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
10176 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
10177 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
10180 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10182 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10184 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
10186 ((string= group "mail.junk")
10188 ((string= group "important")
10194 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
10195 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
10197 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
10198 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
10199 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
10202 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
10203 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
10205 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
10206 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
10207 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
10208 easier for procmail users.
10210 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
10211 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
10212 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
10213 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
10214 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
10215 caution. Even more dangerous is the
10216 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
10217 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
10218 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
10219 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
10220 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
10221 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
10222 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
10225 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
10229 @subsection Washing Mail
10230 @cindex mail washing
10231 @cindex list server brain damage
10232 @cindex incoming mail treatment
10234 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
10235 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
10236 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
10237 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
10238 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
10239 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
10241 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
10242 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
10243 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
10246 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
10247 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
10248 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
10249 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
10252 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10253 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10254 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
10255 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
10256 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
10259 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10260 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10261 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
10262 Emacs running on MS machines.
10266 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10267 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10268 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
10269 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
10272 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10273 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10274 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
10275 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
10277 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10278 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10279 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
10280 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
10281 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
10282 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
10283 also be a list of regexp.
10285 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
10286 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
10289 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
10290 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
10293 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
10294 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
10295 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
10299 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10300 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10301 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
10305 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
10306 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
10307 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
10314 @subsection Duplicates
10316 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
10317 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
10318 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
10319 @cindex duplicate mails
10320 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
10321 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
10322 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
10323 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
10324 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
10325 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
10326 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
10327 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
10328 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
10329 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
10330 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
10331 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
10332 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
10334 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
10335 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
10336 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
10337 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
10339 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
10342 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
10343 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
10347 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
10348 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
10349 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
10350 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
10351 (any mail "mail.misc")
10358 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10359 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
10364 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
10365 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
10366 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
10367 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
10368 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
10371 @node Not Reading Mail
10372 @subsection Not Reading Mail
10374 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
10375 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
10376 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
10378 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
10379 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
10381 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10382 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10383 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10384 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10385 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10386 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
10387 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
10388 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
10389 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
10390 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
10391 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
10393 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
10394 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
10398 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
10399 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
10401 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
10402 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
10403 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
10406 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
10407 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
10408 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
10409 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
10410 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
10414 @node Unix Mail Box
10415 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
10417 @cindex unix mail box
10419 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10420 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10421 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
10422 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
10423 which group it belongs in.
10425 Virtual server settings:
10428 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
10429 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10430 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
10432 @item nnmbox-active-file
10433 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10434 The name of the active file for the mail box.
10436 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
10437 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10438 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
10444 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
10448 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10449 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10450 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
10451 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
10452 article to say which group it belongs in.
10454 Virtual server settings:
10457 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
10458 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10459 The name of the rmail mbox file.
10461 @item nnbabyl-active-file
10462 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10463 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
10465 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10466 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10467 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
10472 @subsubsection Mail Spool
10474 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
10476 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
10477 format. It should be used with some caution.
10479 @vindex nnml-directory
10480 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
10481 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
10482 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
10483 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
10485 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
10488 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
10489 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
10490 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
10491 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
10492 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
10493 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
10494 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
10495 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
10497 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
10498 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
10499 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
10500 backend when it comes to reading mail.
10502 Virtual server settings:
10505 @item nnml-directory
10506 @vindex nnml-directory
10507 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
10509 @item nnml-active-file
10510 @vindex nnml-active-file
10511 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
10513 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
10514 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
10515 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
10518 @item nnml-get-new-mail
10519 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10520 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
10522 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
10523 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
10524 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
10526 @item nnml-nov-file-name
10527 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
10528 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
10530 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10531 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10532 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
10536 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
10537 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
10538 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
10539 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
10540 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
10541 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
10542 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
10547 @subsubsection MH Spool
10549 @cindex mh-e mail spool
10551 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
10552 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
10553 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
10554 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
10556 Virtual server settings:
10559 @item nnmh-directory
10560 @vindex nnmh-directory
10561 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
10563 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
10564 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10565 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
10568 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
10569 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
10570 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
10571 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
10572 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
10573 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
10574 to set this variable to @code{t}.
10579 @subsubsection Mail Folders
10581 @cindex mbox folders
10582 @cindex mail folders
10584 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
10585 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
10586 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
10589 Virtual server settings:
10592 @item nnfolder-directory
10593 @vindex nnfolder-directory
10594 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
10596 @item nnfolder-active-file
10597 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
10598 The name of the active file.
10600 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10601 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10602 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
10604 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
10605 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10606 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
10608 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
10609 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
10610 @cindex backup files
10611 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
10612 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
10613 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
10614 your @file{.emacs} file:
10617 (defun turn-off-backup ()
10618 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
10620 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
10623 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
10624 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
10625 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
10626 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
10627 extract some information from it before removing it.
10632 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
10633 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
10634 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
10635 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
10636 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
10637 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
10640 @node Other Sources
10641 @section Other Sources
10643 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
10644 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
10648 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
10649 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
10650 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
10651 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
10652 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
10653 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
10657 @node Directory Groups
10658 @subsection Directory Groups
10660 @cindex directory groups
10662 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
10663 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
10666 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
10667 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
10668 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
10669 backend to read directories. Big deal.
10671 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
10672 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
10673 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
10674 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
10675 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
10677 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
10679 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
10680 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
10681 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
10682 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
10685 @node Anything Groups
10686 @subsection Anything Groups
10689 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
10690 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
10691 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
10694 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
10695 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
10696 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
10697 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
10698 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
10699 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
10700 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
10701 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
10702 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
10703 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
10706 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
10707 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
10708 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
10709 in the article buffer, just as usual.
10711 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
10712 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
10713 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
10714 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
10716 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
10717 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
10718 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
10719 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
10720 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
10721 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
10722 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
10723 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
10728 @item nneething-map-file-directory
10729 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
10730 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
10731 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
10733 @item nneething-exclude-files
10734 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
10735 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
10736 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
10738 @item nneething-map-file
10739 @vindex nneething-map-file
10740 Name of the map files.
10744 @node Document Groups
10745 @subsection Document Groups
10747 @cindex documentation group
10750 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
10751 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
10758 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
10763 The standard Unix mbox file.
10765 @cindex MMDF mail box
10767 The MMDF mail box format.
10770 Several news articles appended into a file.
10773 @cindex rnews batch files
10774 The rnews batch transport format.
10775 @cindex forwarded messages
10778 Forwarded articles.
10781 MIME multipart messages, besides digests.
10785 @cindex MIME digest
10786 @cindex 1153 digest
10787 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
10788 @cindex RFC 341 digest
10789 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
10791 @item standard-digest
10792 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
10795 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
10798 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
10799 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
10800 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
10803 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
10804 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
10805 group. And that's it.
10807 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
10808 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
10809 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
10810 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
10811 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
10812 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
10813 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
10814 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
10815 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
10816 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
10818 Virtual server variables:
10821 @item nndoc-article-type
10822 @vindex nndoc-article-type
10823 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
10824 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
10825 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{mime-digest},
10826 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs} or
10829 @item nndoc-post-type
10830 @vindex nndoc-post-type
10831 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
10832 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
10837 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
10841 @node Document Server Internals
10842 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
10844 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
10845 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
10846 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
10847 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
10849 First, here's an example document type definition:
10853 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
10854 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
10857 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
10858 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
10859 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
10860 types can be defined with very few settings:
10863 @item first-article
10864 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
10865 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
10868 @item article-begin
10869 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
10870 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
10872 @item head-begin-function
10873 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
10876 @item nndoc-head-begin
10877 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
10880 @item nndoc-head-end
10881 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
10882 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
10884 @item body-begin-function
10885 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
10889 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
10892 @item body-end-function
10893 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
10897 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
10900 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
10901 regexp will be totally ignored.
10905 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
10906 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
10907 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
10908 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
10909 something that's palatable for Gnus:
10912 @item prepare-body-function
10913 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
10914 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
10915 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
10917 @item article-transform-function
10918 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
10919 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
10920 body of the article.
10922 @item generate-head-function
10923 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
10924 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
10925 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
10926 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
10930 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
10935 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
10936 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
10937 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
10938 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
10939 (head-end . "^ ?$")
10940 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
10941 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
10942 (subtype digest guess))
10945 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
10946 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
10947 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
10948 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
10949 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
10951 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
10952 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
10953 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
10954 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
10955 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
10956 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
10957 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
10958 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
10959 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
10960 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
10968 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
10969 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
10970 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
10972 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
10973 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
10974 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
10977 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
10978 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
10979 that interested in doing things properly.
10981 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
10982 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
10985 First some terminology:
10990 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
10991 get news and/or mail from.
10994 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
10995 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
10998 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
11002 @item message packets
11003 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
11004 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
11005 default, where @var{X} is a number.
11007 @item response packets
11008 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
11009 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
11010 default, where @var{X} is a number.
11020 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
11021 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
11022 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
11023 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
11026 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
11029 You put the packet in your home directory.
11032 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
11033 the native or secondary server.
11036 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
11037 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
11040 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
11044 You transfer this packet to the server.
11047 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
11050 You then repeat until you die.
11054 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
11055 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
11058 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
11059 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
11060 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
11064 @node SOUP Commands
11065 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
11067 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
11071 @kindex G s b (Group)
11072 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
11073 Pack all unread articles in the current group
11074 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
11075 process/prefix convention.
11078 @kindex G s w (Group)
11079 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
11080 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
11083 @kindex G s s (Group)
11084 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
11085 Send all replies from the replies packet
11086 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
11089 @kindex G s p (Group)
11090 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
11091 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
11094 @kindex G s r (Group)
11095 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
11096 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
11099 @kindex O s (Summary)
11100 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
11101 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
11102 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
11103 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11108 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
11113 @item gnus-soup-directory
11114 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
11115 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
11116 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
11118 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
11119 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
11120 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
11121 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
11123 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
11124 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
11125 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
11126 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
11128 @item gnus-soup-packer
11129 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
11130 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
11131 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
11133 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
11134 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
11135 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
11136 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
11138 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
11139 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
11140 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
11142 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
11143 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
11144 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
11145 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
11151 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
11154 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
11155 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
11156 you can read them at leisure.
11158 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
11162 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
11163 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
11164 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
11165 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
11167 @item nnsoup-directory
11168 @vindex nnsoup-directory
11169 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
11170 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
11172 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
11173 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
11174 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
11175 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
11177 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
11178 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
11179 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
11180 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
11181 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
11183 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
11184 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
11185 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
11186 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
11188 @item nnsoup-active-file
11189 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
11190 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
11191 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
11192 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
11193 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
11195 @item nnsoup-packer
11196 @vindex nnsoup-packer
11197 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
11198 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
11200 @item nnsoup-unpacker
11201 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
11202 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
11203 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
11205 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
11206 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
11207 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
11210 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
11211 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
11212 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
11215 @item nnsoup-always-save
11216 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
11217 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
11223 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
11225 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
11226 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
11227 more for that to happen.
11229 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
11230 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
11231 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
11234 In specific, this is what it does:
11237 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
11238 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
11241 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
11242 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
11243 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
11247 @subsection Web Searches
11251 @cindex InReference
11252 @cindex Usenet searches
11253 @cindex searching the Usenet
11255 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
11256 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
11257 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
11258 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
11259 searches without having to use a browser.
11261 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
11262 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
11263 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
11264 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
11265 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
11267 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
11268 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
11269 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
11270 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
11271 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
11272 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
11273 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
11274 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
11275 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
11276 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
11279 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
11280 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
11281 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
11282 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
11283 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
11284 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
11286 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
11287 to use @code{nnweb}.
11289 Virtual server variables:
11294 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
11295 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
11299 @vindex nnweb-search
11300 The search string to feed to the search engine.
11302 @item nnweb-max-hits
11303 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
11304 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
11307 @item nnweb-type-definition
11308 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
11309 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
11310 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
11315 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
11319 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
11322 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
11325 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
11329 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
11336 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
11337 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
11338 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
11341 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
11342 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
11343 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
11345 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
11351 @item nngateway-address
11352 @vindex nngateway-address
11353 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
11355 @item nngateway-header-transformation
11356 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
11357 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
11358 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
11359 transformation should be called, and defaults to
11360 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
11361 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
11364 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
11365 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
11366 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
11369 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
11372 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
11375 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
11378 The following pre-defined functions exist:
11380 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11383 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11384 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11385 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
11387 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11389 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11390 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11391 @code{nngateway-address}.
11396 (setq gnus-post-method
11397 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
11398 (nngateway-header-transformation
11399 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
11407 So, to use this, simply say something like:
11410 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
11414 @node Combined Groups
11415 @section Combined Groups
11417 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
11421 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
11422 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
11426 @node Virtual Groups
11427 @subsection Virtual Groups
11429 @cindex virtual groups
11430 @cindex merging groups
11432 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
11435 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
11436 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
11437 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
11439 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
11440 regexp to match component groups.
11442 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
11443 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
11444 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
11445 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
11446 the virtual group.)
11448 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
11449 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
11452 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
11455 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
11456 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
11458 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
11459 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
11460 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
11461 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
11464 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
11467 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
11468 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
11469 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
11471 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
11472 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
11473 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
11474 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
11475 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
11477 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
11478 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
11479 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
11481 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
11482 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
11483 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
11484 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
11485 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
11486 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
11487 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
11488 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
11489 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
11490 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
11491 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
11493 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
11494 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
11495 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
11496 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
11497 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
11498 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
11499 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
11501 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
11502 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
11506 @node Kibozed Groups
11507 @subsection Kibozed Groups
11511 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
11512 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
11513 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
11514 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
11516 @kindex G k (Group)
11517 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
11520 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
11521 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
11522 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
11523 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
11525 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
11526 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
11527 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
11529 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
11530 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
11531 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
11532 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
11533 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
11534 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
11535 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
11536 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
11538 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
11539 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
11540 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
11541 Stranger things have happened.
11543 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
11544 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
11546 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
11547 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
11548 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
11549 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
11550 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
11551 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
11553 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
11554 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
11557 @node Gnus Unplugged
11558 @section Gnus Unplugged
11563 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
11565 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
11566 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
11567 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
11568 read news. Believe it or not.
11570 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
11571 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
11572 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
11573 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
11574 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
11576 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
11577 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
11578 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
11579 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
11580 reading news on a machine.
11582 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
11586 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
11587 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
11591 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
11592 @file{.gnus.el} file:
11599 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
11601 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
11604 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
11605 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
11606 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
11607 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
11608 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
11609 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
11610 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
11611 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
11612 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
11617 @subsection Agent Basics
11619 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
11621 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
11622 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
11623 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
11624 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
11626 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
11627 connected to the net continuously.
11629 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
11630 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
11632 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
11637 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
11638 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
11639 already fetched while in this mode.
11642 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
11643 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
11644 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
11647 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
11648 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
11649 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
11650 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
11653 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
11654 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
11655 then you read the news offline.
11658 And then you go to step 2.
11661 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
11667 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
11668 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
11669 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
11670 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
11671 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
11672 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
11675 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
11682 @node Agent Categories
11683 @subsection Agent Categories
11685 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
11686 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
11687 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
11688 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
11689 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
11690 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
11691 you're interested in the articles anyway.
11693 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
11694 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
11695 Gnus has its own buffer for creating and managing categories.
11698 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
11699 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
11700 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
11704 @node Category Syntax
11705 @subsubsection Category Syntax
11707 A category consists of two things.
11711 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
11712 are eligible for downloading; and
11715 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
11716 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
11717 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
11720 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
11721 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
11722 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
11723 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
11725 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
11726 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
11727 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as descibed below.
11729 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
11730 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
11731 operators sprinkled in between.
11733 Perhaps some examples are in order.
11735 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
11736 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
11742 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
11743 short (for some value of ``short'').
11745 Here's a more complex predicate:
11754 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
11755 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
11758 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
11759 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
11760 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
11762 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
11763 you want to do, you can write your own.
11767 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
11768 lines; default 100.
11771 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
11772 lines; default 200.
11775 True iff the article has a download score less than
11776 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
11779 True iff the article has a download score greater than
11780 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
11783 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
11784 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
11785 checksum and sees whether articles match.
11794 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
11795 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
11796 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
11799 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
11800 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
11801 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
11802 something along the lines of the following:
11805 (defun my-article-old-p ()
11806 "Say whether an article is old."
11807 (< (time-to-day (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
11808 (- (time-to-day (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
11811 with the predicate then defined as:
11814 (not my-article-old-p)
11817 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
11818 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
11819 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
11820 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
11823 (defvar gnus-category-predicate-alist
11824 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
11825 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
11828 and simply specify your predicate as:
11834 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
11835 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
11836 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
11837 just don't give a damm.
11840 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
11841 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
11842 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
11843 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
11844 parameters like so:
11847 (agent-predicate . short)
11850 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category
11851 default. Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this,
11852 the @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair
11855 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
11858 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
11861 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
11862 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
11863 predicate is assumed to be a list.
11866 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
11867 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
11868 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
11869 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
11870 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
11871 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
11873 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
11874 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
11875 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
11876 if it's to be specific to that group.
11878 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
11885 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
11886 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
11892 Category specification
11896 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
11902 Group Parameter specification
11905 (agent-score ("from"
11906 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
11911 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
11917 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
11924 Category specification
11927 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
11933 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
11937 Group Parameter specification
11940 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
11943 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
11948 Use @code{normal} score files
11950 If you dont want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
11951 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
11952 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
11953 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
11955 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
11956 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
11957 files for a group, *filtering out* those those sections that do not
11958 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
11962 Category Specification
11969 Group Parameter specification
11972 (agent-score . file)
11977 @node The Category Buffer
11978 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
11980 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
11981 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
11982 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
11984 The following commands are available in this buffer:
11988 @kindex q (Category)
11989 @findex gnus-category-exit
11990 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
11993 @kindex k (Category)
11994 @findex gnus-category-kill
11995 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
11998 @kindex c (Category)
11999 @findex gnus-category-copy
12000 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
12003 @kindex a (Category)
12004 @findex gnus-category-add
12005 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
12008 @kindex p (Category)
12009 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
12010 Edit the predicate of the current category
12011 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
12014 @kindex g (Category)
12015 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
12016 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
12017 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
12020 @kindex s (Category)
12021 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
12022 Edit the download score rule of the current category
12023 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
12026 @kindex l (Category)
12027 @findex gnus-category-list
12028 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
12032 @node Category Variables
12033 @subsubsection Category Variables
12036 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
12037 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
12038 Hook run in category buffers.
12040 @item gnus-category-line-format
12041 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
12042 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
12043 Variables}). Valid elements are:
12047 The name of the category.
12050 The number of groups in the category.
12053 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
12054 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
12055 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
12057 @item gnus-agent-short-article
12058 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
12059 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
12061 @item gnus-agent-long-article
12062 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
12063 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
12065 @item gnus-agent-low-score
12066 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
12067 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
12070 @item gnus-agent-high-score
12071 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
12072 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
12078 @node Agent Commands
12079 @subsection Agent Commands
12081 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
12082 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
12083 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
12087 * Group Agent Commands::
12088 * Summary Agent Commands::
12089 * Server Agent Commands::
12092 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
12093 following incantation:
12095 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
12097 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
12102 @node Group Agent Commands
12103 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
12107 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
12108 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
12109 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
12110 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
12113 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
12114 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
12115 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
12118 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
12119 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
12120 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
12121 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
12124 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
12125 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
12126 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
12127 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}). @xref{Drafts}.
12130 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
12131 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
12132 Add the current group to an Agent category
12133 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}).
12138 @node Summary Agent Commands
12139 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
12143 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
12144 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
12145 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
12148 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
12149 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
12150 Remove the downloading mark from the article
12151 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
12154 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
12155 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
12156 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
12159 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
12160 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
12161 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
12166 @node Server Agent Commands
12167 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
12171 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
12172 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
12173 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
12174 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
12177 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
12178 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
12179 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
12180 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
12186 @subsection Agent Expiry
12188 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
12189 @findex gnus-agent-expire
12190 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
12191 @cindex Agent expiry
12192 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
12195 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
12196 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
12197 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
12198 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
12199 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
12200 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
12202 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
12203 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
12204 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
12205 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
12206 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
12209 @node Outgoing Messages
12210 @subsection Outgoing Messages
12212 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
12213 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
12214 after posting, and edit them at will.
12216 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
12217 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
12218 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
12219 messages in the draft group.
12223 @node Agent Variables
12224 @subsection Agent Variables
12227 @item gnus-agent-directory
12228 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
12229 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
12230 @file{~/News/agent/}.
12232 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
12233 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
12234 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
12235 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
12236 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
12239 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
12240 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
12241 Hook run when connecting to the network.
12243 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
12244 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
12245 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
12250 @node Example Setup
12251 @subsection Example Setup
12253 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
12254 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
12255 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
12258 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over NNTP
12259 ;;; from your ISP's server.
12260 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "nntp.your-isp.com"))
12262 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
12263 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
12264 (setenv "MAILHOST" "pop.your-isp.com")
12265 (setq nnmail-spool-file "po:username")
12267 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
12268 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12270 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
12274 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
12275 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
12278 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
12279 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
12280 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
12281 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
12282 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
12285 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
12286 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
12287 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
12288 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
12289 back all the killed groups.)
12291 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
12292 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
12293 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
12296 @node Batching Agents
12297 @subsection Batching Agents
12299 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
12300 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
12301 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
12305 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
12309 @node Agent Caveats
12310 @subsection Agent Caveats
12312 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
12313 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
12317 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
12322 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
12323 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
12329 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
12330 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
12337 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
12338 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
12339 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
12342 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
12343 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
12344 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
12345 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
12346 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
12348 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
12349 before generating the summary buffer.
12351 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
12352 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
12353 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
12355 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
12356 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
12357 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
12358 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
12361 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
12362 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
12363 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
12364 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
12365 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
12366 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
12367 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
12368 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
12369 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
12370 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
12371 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
12372 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
12373 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
12374 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
12375 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
12376 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
12380 @node Summary Score Commands
12381 @section Summary Score Commands
12382 @cindex score commands
12384 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
12385 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
12386 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
12387 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
12388 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
12390 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
12391 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
12392 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
12393 score file the current one.
12395 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
12400 @kindex V s (Summary)
12401 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
12402 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
12405 @kindex V S (Summary)
12406 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
12407 Display the score of the current article
12408 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
12411 @kindex V t (Summary)
12412 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
12413 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
12414 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
12417 @kindex V R (Summary)
12418 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
12419 Run the current summary through the scoring process
12420 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
12421 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
12422 effect you're having.
12425 @kindex V c (Summary)
12426 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
12427 Make a different score file the current
12428 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
12431 @kindex V e (Summary)
12432 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
12433 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
12434 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
12438 @kindex V f (Summary)
12439 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
12440 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
12441 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
12444 @kindex V F (Summary)
12445 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
12446 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
12447 after editing score files.
12450 @kindex V C (Summary)
12451 @findex gnus-score-customize
12452 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
12453 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
12457 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
12462 @kindex V m (Summary)
12463 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
12464 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
12465 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
12468 @kindex V x (Summary)
12469 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
12470 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
12471 expunge all articles below this score
12472 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
12475 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
12476 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
12479 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
12480 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
12484 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
12485 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
12487 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
12488 keys are available:
12492 Score on the author name.
12495 Score on the subject line.
12498 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
12501 Score on the References line.
12507 Score on the number of lines.
12510 Score on the Message-ID.
12513 Score on followups.
12527 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
12528 what headers you are scoring on.
12540 Substring matching.
12543 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
12572 Greater than number.
12577 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
12578 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
12579 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
12583 Temporary score entry.
12586 Permanent score entry.
12589 Immediately scoring.
12594 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
12595 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
12596 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
12597 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
12599 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
12600 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
12601 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
12602 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
12603 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
12605 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
12606 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
12607 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
12608 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
12609 current score file.
12611 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
12612 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
12613 pretend they are keymaps or not.
12616 @node Group Score Commands
12617 @section Group Score Commands
12618 @cindex group score commands
12620 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
12625 @kindex W f (Group)
12626 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
12627 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
12628 all the time. This command will flush the cache
12629 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
12633 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
12635 @findex gnus-batch-score
12636 @cindex batch scoring
12638 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
12642 @node Score Variables
12643 @section Score Variables
12644 @cindex score variables
12648 @item gnus-use-scoring
12649 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
12650 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
12651 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
12653 @item gnus-kill-killed
12654 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
12655 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
12656 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
12657 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
12658 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
12659 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
12660 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
12662 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
12663 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
12664 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
12665 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
12666 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
12668 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
12669 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
12670 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
12671 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
12673 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12674 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12675 @cindex score cache
12676 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
12677 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
12678 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
12679 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
12680 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
12681 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
12684 @item gnus-save-score
12685 @vindex gnus-save-score
12686 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
12687 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
12688 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
12690 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12691 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12692 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
12693 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
12694 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
12695 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
12696 manually entered data.
12698 @item gnus-summary-default-score
12699 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
12700 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
12702 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
12703 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
12704 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
12705 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
12706 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
12707 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
12709 @item gnus-score-over-mark
12710 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
12711 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
12712 default. Default is @samp{+}.
12714 @item gnus-score-below-mark
12715 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
12716 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
12717 default. Default is @samp{-}.
12719 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12720 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12721 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
12722 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
12724 Predefined functions available are:
12727 @item gnus-score-find-single
12728 @findex gnus-score-find-single
12729 Only apply the group's own score file.
12731 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
12732 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
12733 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
12734 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
12735 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
12736 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
12737 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
12738 then a regexp match is done.
12740 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
12741 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
12743 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
12744 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
12745 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
12746 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
12748 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12749 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12750 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
12751 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
12752 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
12755 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
12756 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
12757 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
12758 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
12759 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
12760 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
12763 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
12764 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
12765 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
12766 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
12767 are expired. It's 7 by default.
12769 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12770 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12771 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
12772 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
12773 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
12774 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
12775 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
12778 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12779 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12780 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
12782 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
12783 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
12784 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
12785 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
12786 threading---according to the current value of
12787 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
12788 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
12789 simplified in this manner.
12794 @node Score File Format
12795 @section Score File Format
12796 @cindex score file format
12798 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
12799 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
12800 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
12802 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
12806 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
12808 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
12810 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
12812 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
12817 (mark-and-expunge -10)
12821 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
12822 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
12823 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
12824 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
12828 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
12829 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
12831 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
12832 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
12833 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
12835 Six keys are supported by this alist:
12840 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
12841 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
12842 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
12843 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
12844 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
12845 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
12846 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
12847 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
12848 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
12849 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
12850 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
12851 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
12852 to articles that matches these score entries.
12854 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
12855 score entry has one to four elements.
12859 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
12860 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
12864 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
12865 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
12866 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
12867 is successful. If this element is not present, the
12868 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
12869 instead. This is 1000 by default.
12872 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
12873 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
12874 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
12875 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
12876 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
12879 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
12880 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
12881 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
12882 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
12885 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
12886 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
12887 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
12888 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
12889 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
12890 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
12891 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
12892 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
12893 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
12894 instead, if you feel like.
12897 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
12898 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
12900 These predicates are true if
12903 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
12906 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
12907 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
12914 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
12915 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
12916 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
12917 it's not. I think.)
12919 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
12920 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
12921 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
12922 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
12925 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
12926 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
12927 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
12928 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
12929 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
12930 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
12931 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
12935 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
12936 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
12937 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
12938 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
12939 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
12940 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
12941 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
12942 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
12945 @item Head, Body, All
12946 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
12950 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
12951 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
12952 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
12953 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
12954 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
12955 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
12956 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
12960 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
12961 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{X}, then you add a
12962 @samp{thread} match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each
12963 article that has @var{X} in its @code{References} header. (These new
12964 @samp{thread} matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching
12965 articles.) This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an
12966 entire thread, even though some articles in the thread may not have
12967 complete @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
12968 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
12969 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
12973 @cindex Score File Atoms
12975 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12976 lower than this number will be marked as read.
12979 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12980 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
12982 @item mark-and-expunge
12983 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12984 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
12987 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
12988 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
12989 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
12990 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
12991 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
12994 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
12995 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
12998 @item exclude-files
12999 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
13000 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
13004 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
13005 ignored when handling global score files.
13008 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
13009 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
13010 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
13011 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
13014 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
13015 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
13016 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
13017 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
13019 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
13023 (mark-and-expunge -100)
13026 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
13027 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
13028 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
13029 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
13030 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
13032 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
13033 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
13034 ordinary scoring rules.
13037 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
13038 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
13039 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
13040 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
13041 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
13042 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
13043 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
13044 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
13045 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
13046 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
13047 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
13051 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
13052 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
13053 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
13054 file for a number of groups.
13057 @cindex local variables
13058 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
13059 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
13060 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
13061 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
13062 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
13066 @node Score File Editing
13067 @section Score File Editing
13069 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
13070 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
13071 with a mode for that.
13073 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
13074 additional commands:
13079 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
13080 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
13081 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
13082 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
13085 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
13086 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
13087 Insert the current date in numerical format
13088 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
13089 you were wondering.
13092 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
13093 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
13094 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
13095 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
13096 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
13101 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
13103 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
13104 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
13106 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
13107 e} to begin editing score files.
13110 @node Adaptive Scoring
13111 @section Adaptive Scoring
13112 @cindex adaptive scoring
13114 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
13115 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
13116 stupidity, to be precise.
13118 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
13119 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
13120 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
13121 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
13122 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
13123 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
13124 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
13125 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
13126 variable to @code{(word line)}.
13128 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
13129 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
13130 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
13131 might look something like this:
13134 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
13135 '((gnus-unread-mark)
13136 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
13137 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
13138 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
13139 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
13140 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
13141 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
13142 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
13143 (gnus-ancient-mark)
13144 (gnus-low-score-mark)
13145 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
13148 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
13149 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
13150 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
13151 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
13152 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
13153 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
13156 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
13157 will be applied to each article.
13159 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
13160 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
13161 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
13162 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
13164 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
13165 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
13166 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
13167 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
13169 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
13170 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
13171 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
13172 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
13174 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
13175 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
13176 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
13177 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
13178 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
13179 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
13181 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
13182 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
13183 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
13184 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
13185 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
13186 aspirins afterwards.)
13188 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
13189 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
13190 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
13192 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
13193 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
13194 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
13196 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
13197 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
13198 let you use different rules in different groups.
13200 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
13201 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
13202 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
13205 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
13206 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
13207 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
13208 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
13209 the length of the match is less than
13210 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
13211 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
13214 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
13215 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
13216 headers. If you adapt on words, the
13217 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
13218 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
13221 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
13222 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
13223 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
13224 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
13225 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
13228 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
13229 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
13230 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
13231 score with 30 points.
13233 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
13234 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
13235 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
13236 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
13237 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
13239 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
13240 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
13241 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
13242 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
13244 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
13245 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
13246 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
13247 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
13249 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
13250 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
13251 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
13252 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
13253 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
13255 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
13256 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
13257 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
13259 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
13260 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
13261 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
13262 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
13265 @node Home Score File
13266 @section Home Score File
13268 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
13269 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
13270 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
13271 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
13273 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
13274 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
13275 could perhaps use the same home score file.
13277 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
13278 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
13283 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
13287 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
13288 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
13292 A list. The elements in this list can be:
13296 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
13297 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
13300 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
13301 the home score file.
13304 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
13307 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
13312 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
13315 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13316 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
13319 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
13320 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
13322 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
13324 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13325 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
13328 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
13329 Other functions include
13332 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
13333 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
13334 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
13335 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
13339 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
13340 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
13341 their own home score files:
13344 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13345 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
13346 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
13347 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
13348 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
13351 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
13352 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
13353 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
13354 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
13355 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
13357 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
13358 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
13359 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
13360 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
13361 precedence over this variable.
13364 @node Followups To Yourself
13365 @section Followups To Yourself
13367 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
13368 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
13369 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
13370 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
13371 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
13372 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
13376 @item gnus-score-followup-article
13377 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
13378 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
13381 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
13382 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
13383 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
13387 @vindex message-sent-hook
13388 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
13389 @code{message-sent-hook}.
13391 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
13392 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
13396 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
13397 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
13400 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
13401 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
13406 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
13410 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
13411 is system-dependent.
13415 @section Scoring Tips
13416 @cindex scoring tips
13422 @cindex scoring crossposts
13423 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
13424 the @code{Xref} header.
13426 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
13429 @item Multiple crossposts
13430 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
13431 more than, say, 3 groups:
13433 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
13436 @item Matching on the body
13437 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
13438 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
13439 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
13440 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
13441 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
13442 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
13443 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
13446 @item Marking as read
13447 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
13448 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
13449 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
13453 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
13455 @item Negated character classes
13456 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
13457 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
13458 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
13462 @node Reverse Scoring
13463 @section Reverse Scoring
13464 @cindex reverse scoring
13466 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
13467 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
13468 like this in your score file:
13472 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
13477 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
13478 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
13481 @node Global Score Files
13482 @section Global Score Files
13483 @cindex global score files
13485 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
13486 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
13487 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
13489 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
13490 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
13491 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
13493 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
13494 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
13495 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
13496 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
13497 files are applicable to which group.
13499 Say you want to use the score file
13500 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
13501 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
13504 (setq gnus-global-score-files
13505 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
13506 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
13509 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
13510 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
13511 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
13512 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
13513 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
13515 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
13516 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
13518 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
13519 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
13520 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
13521 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
13522 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
13523 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
13525 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
13531 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
13533 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
13535 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
13537 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
13538 lowered out of existence.
13540 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
13541 articles completely.
13544 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
13545 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
13546 old articles for a long time.
13549 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
13550 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
13551 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
13552 holding our breath yet?
13556 @section Kill Files
13559 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
13560 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
13561 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
13563 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
13564 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
13565 files into score files.
13567 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
13568 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
13569 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
13570 that isn't a very good idea.
13572 Normal kill files look like this:
13575 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13576 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
13580 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
13581 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
13583 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
13584 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
13587 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
13592 @kindex M-k (Summary)
13593 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
13594 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
13597 @kindex M-K (Summary)
13598 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
13599 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
13602 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
13607 @kindex M-k (Group)
13608 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
13609 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
13612 @kindex M-K (Group)
13613 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
13614 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
13617 Kill file variables:
13620 @item gnus-kill-file-name
13621 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
13622 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
13623 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
13624 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
13625 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
13626 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
13628 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13629 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13630 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
13631 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
13634 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
13635 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
13636 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
13637 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
13638 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
13639 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
13640 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
13641 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
13642 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
13644 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13645 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13646 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
13651 @node Converting Kill Files
13652 @section Converting Kill Files
13654 @cindex converting kill files
13656 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
13657 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
13658 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
13661 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
13662 You can fetch it from
13663 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
13665 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
13666 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
13667 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
13675 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
13676 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
13677 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
13679 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
13680 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
13681 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
13682 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
13683 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
13684 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
13685 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
13686 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
13690 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
13691 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
13692 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
13693 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
13697 @node Using GroupLens
13698 @subsection Using GroupLens
13700 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
13702 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
13703 better bit in town at the moment.
13705 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
13709 @item gnus-use-grouplens
13710 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
13711 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
13712 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
13714 @item grouplens-pseudonym
13715 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
13716 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
13717 with the Better Bit Bureau.
13719 @item grouplens-newsgroups
13720 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
13721 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
13725 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
13726 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
13727 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
13728 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
13729 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
13730 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
13733 @node Rating Articles
13734 @subsection Rating Articles
13736 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
13737 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
13738 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
13739 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
13742 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
13747 @kindex r (GroupLens)
13748 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
13749 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
13752 @kindex k (GroupLens)
13753 @findex grouplens-score-thread
13754 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
13755 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
13756 threads in rec.humor.
13760 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
13761 the score of the article you're reading.
13766 @kindex n (GroupLens)
13767 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
13768 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
13771 @kindex , (GroupLens)
13772 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
13773 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
13777 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
13778 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
13781 @node Displaying Predictions
13782 @subsection Displaying Predictions
13784 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
13785 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
13786 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
13787 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
13788 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
13790 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
13791 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
13792 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
13793 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
13794 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
13795 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
13796 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
13797 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
13798 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
13799 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
13800 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
13801 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
13802 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
13804 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
13805 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
13806 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
13807 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
13809 The following are valid values for that variable.
13812 @item prediction-spot
13813 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
13816 @item confidence-interval
13817 A numeric confidence interval.
13819 @item prediction-bar
13820 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
13822 @item confidence-bar
13823 Numerical confidence.
13825 @item confidence-spot
13826 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
13828 @item prediction-num
13829 Plain-old numeric value.
13831 @item confidence-plus-minus
13832 Prediction +/- confidence.
13837 @node GroupLens Variables
13838 @subsection GroupLens Variables
13842 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
13843 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
13844 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
13845 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
13848 @item grouplens-bbb-host
13849 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
13852 @item grouplens-bbb-port
13853 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
13855 @item grouplens-score-offset
13856 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
13857 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
13860 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
13861 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
13862 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
13867 @node Advanced Scoring
13868 @section Advanced Scoring
13870 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
13871 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
13872 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
13873 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
13874 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
13876 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
13880 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
13881 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
13882 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
13886 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
13887 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
13889 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
13890 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
13891 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
13892 non-@code{nil} value.
13894 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
13895 operator, and various match operators.
13902 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
13903 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
13904 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
13909 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
13910 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
13911 then this operator will return @code{false}.
13916 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
13917 logical negation of the value of its argument.
13921 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
13922 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
13923 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
13924 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
13925 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
13926 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
13927 the ancestry you want to go.
13929 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
13930 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
13931 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
13932 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
13933 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
13936 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
13937 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
13939 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
13940 when he's talking about Gnus:
13944 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13945 ("subject" "Gnus"))
13951 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
13955 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13962 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
13963 really don't want to read what he's written:
13967 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13968 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
13972 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
13973 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
13974 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
13981 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
13982 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
13983 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
13984 ("body" "white.*socks"))
13988 The possibilities are endless.
13991 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
13992 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
13994 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
13995 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
13996 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
13997 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
13998 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
13999 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
14000 @samp{subject}) first.
14002 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
14003 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
14014 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
14015 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
14021 ("subject" "Gnus")))
14028 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
14029 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
14034 @section Score Decays
14035 @cindex score decays
14038 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
14039 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
14040 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
14041 use them in any sensible way.
14043 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
14044 @findex gnus-decay-score
14045 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
14046 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
14047 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
14048 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
14049 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
14050 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
14051 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
14052 definition of that function:
14055 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
14057 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
14058 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
14061 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
14063 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
14065 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
14068 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
14069 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
14070 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
14071 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
14075 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
14078 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
14081 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
14085 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
14086 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
14087 the new score, which should be an integer.
14089 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
14090 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
14097 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
14098 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
14099 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
14100 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
14101 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
14102 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
14103 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
14104 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
14105 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
14106 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
14107 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
14108 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
14109 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
14110 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
14111 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
14112 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
14113 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
14114 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
14118 @node Process/Prefix
14119 @section Process/Prefix
14120 @cindex process/prefix convention
14122 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
14123 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
14125 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
14126 command to be performed on.
14130 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
14131 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
14132 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
14133 with the current one.
14135 @vindex transient-mark-mode
14136 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
14137 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
14139 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
14140 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
14143 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
14144 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
14146 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
14149 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
14150 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
14151 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
14152 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14154 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
14155 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
14156 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
14157 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
14158 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
14159 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
14160 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
14161 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
14165 @section Interactive
14166 @cindex interaction
14170 @item gnus-novice-user
14171 @vindex gnus-novice-user
14172 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
14173 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
14174 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
14175 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
14178 @item gnus-expert-user
14179 @vindex gnus-expert-user
14180 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
14181 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
14182 matter how strange.
14184 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
14185 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
14186 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
14187 is @code{t} by default.
14189 @item gnus-interactive-exit
14190 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
14191 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
14196 @node Symbolic Prefixes
14197 @section Symbolic Prefixes
14198 @cindex symbolic prefixes
14200 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
14201 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
14202 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
14203 rule of 900 to the current article.
14205 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
14206 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
14207 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
14208 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
14209 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
14210 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
14211 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
14213 @kindex M-i (Summary)
14214 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
14215 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
14216 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
14217 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
14218 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
14219 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
14220 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
14221 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
14223 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
14224 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
14225 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
14227 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
14231 @node Formatting Variables
14232 @section Formatting Variables
14233 @cindex formatting variables
14235 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
14236 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
14237 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
14238 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
14239 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
14242 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
14243 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
14244 lots of percentages everywhere.
14247 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
14248 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
14249 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
14250 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
14251 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
14254 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
14255 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
14256 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
14257 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
14258 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
14259 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
14260 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
14261 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
14263 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
14264 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
14266 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
14267 @findex gnus-update-format
14268 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
14269 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
14270 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
14271 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
14275 @node Formatting Basics
14276 @subsection Formatting Basics
14278 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
14279 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
14280 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
14282 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
14283 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
14284 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
14285 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
14286 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
14289 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
14290 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
14291 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
14292 less than 4 characters wide.
14295 @node Mode Line Formatting
14296 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
14298 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
14299 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
14300 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
14301 with the following two differences:
14306 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
14309 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
14310 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
14311 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
14312 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
14313 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
14314 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
14315 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
14320 @node Advanced Formatting
14321 @subsection Advanced Formatting
14323 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
14324 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
14325 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
14326 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
14328 These are the valid modifiers:
14333 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
14337 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
14342 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
14345 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
14350 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
14353 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
14356 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
14359 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
14363 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
14364 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
14365 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
14366 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
14367 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
14368 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
14369 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
14371 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
14372 last operation, padding.
14374 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
14375 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
14376 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
14377 @xref{Compilation}.
14380 @node User-Defined Specs
14381 @subsection User-Defined Specs
14383 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
14384 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
14385 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
14386 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
14387 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
14388 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
14389 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
14390 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
14391 should protect against that.
14393 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
14394 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
14395 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
14396 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
14400 @node Formatting Fonts
14401 @subsection Formatting Fonts
14403 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
14404 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
14405 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
14406 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
14409 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
14410 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
14411 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
14412 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
14413 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
14414 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
14416 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
14417 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say
14418 @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
14419 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or
14420 symbols naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
14421 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
14422 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
14423 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
14425 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
14428 ;; Create three face types.
14429 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
14430 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
14432 ;; We want the article count to be in
14433 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
14434 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
14435 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
14437 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
14438 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
14440 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
14441 (setq gnus-group-line-format
14442 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
14445 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
14446 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
14448 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
14449 mode-line variables.
14452 @node Windows Configuration
14453 @section Windows Configuration
14454 @cindex windows configuration
14456 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
14458 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
14459 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
14460 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
14461 @code{t} by default.
14463 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
14464 glitches. Use at your own peril.
14466 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
14467 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
14468 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
14471 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
14472 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
14473 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
14477 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
14478 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
14479 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
14480 possible names is listed below.
14482 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
14483 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
14486 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
14490 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
14491 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
14492 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
14493 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
14494 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
14495 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
14496 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
14497 size spec per split.
14499 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
14500 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
14501 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
14502 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
14503 present) gets focus.
14505 Here's a more complicated example:
14508 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
14509 (summary 0.25 point)
14510 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
14514 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
14515 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
14516 occupy, not a percentage.
14518 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
14519 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
14520 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
14521 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
14522 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
14525 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
14528 (article (horizontal 1.0
14533 (summary 0.25 point)
14538 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
14539 @code{horizontal} thingie?
14541 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
14542 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
14543 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
14544 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
14545 the screen is to be given to this strip.
14547 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
14548 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
14549 lines from the splits.
14551 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
14555 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
14556 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
14557 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
14558 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
14559 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
14560 size = number | frame-params
14561 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
14564 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
14565 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
14566 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
14567 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
14569 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
14570 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
14571 @cindex window height
14572 @cindex window width
14573 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
14574 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
14575 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
14576 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
14577 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
14578 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
14580 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
14581 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
14582 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
14583 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
14585 @findex gnus-configure-frame
14586 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
14587 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
14588 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
14589 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
14590 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
14591 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
14592 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
14593 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
14594 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
14595 configuration list.
14598 (gnus-configure-frame
14602 (article 0.3 point))
14610 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
14611 @code{frame} split:
14614 (gnus-configure-frame
14617 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
14619 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
14620 (user-position . t)
14621 (left . -1) (top . 1))
14626 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
14627 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
14628 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
14629 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
14630 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
14631 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
14632 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
14633 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
14636 Here's a list of all possible keys for
14637 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
14639 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
14640 @code{browse}, @code{message}, @code{pick}, @code{info},
14641 @code{summary-faq}, @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server},
14642 @code{edit-score}, @code{post}, @code{reply}, @code{forward},
14643 @code{reply-yank}, @code{mail-bounce}, @code{draft}, @code{pipe},
14644 @code{bug}, @code{compose-bounce}, and @code{score-trace}.
14646 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
14647 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
14648 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
14652 (message (horizontal 1.0
14653 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
14655 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
14660 @findex gnus-add-configuration
14661 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
14662 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
14663 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
14664 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
14667 (gnus-add-configuration
14668 '(article (vertical 1.0
14670 (summary .25 point)
14674 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
14675 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
14676 Gnus has been loaded.
14678 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
14679 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
14680 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
14681 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
14682 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
14684 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
14685 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
14686 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
14690 @node Faces and Fonts
14691 @section Faces and Fonts
14696 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
14697 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
14698 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
14703 @section Compilation
14704 @cindex compilation
14705 @cindex byte-compilation
14707 @findex gnus-compile
14709 Remember all those line format specification variables?
14710 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
14711 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
14712 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
14713 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
14714 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
14717 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
14718 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
14719 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
14720 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
14721 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
14722 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
14723 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
14727 @section Mode Lines
14730 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
14731 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
14732 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
14733 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
14734 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
14735 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
14736 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
14739 @cindex display-time
14741 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
14742 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
14743 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
14744 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
14745 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
14746 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
14747 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
14748 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
14751 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
14753 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
14754 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
14756 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
14757 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
14758 (length display-time-string)))))
14761 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
14762 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
14763 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
14764 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
14765 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
14768 @node Highlighting and Menus
14769 @section Highlighting and Menus
14771 @cindex highlighting
14774 @vindex gnus-visual
14775 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
14776 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
14777 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
14780 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
14781 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
14784 @item group-highlight
14785 Do highlights in the group buffer.
14786 @item summary-highlight
14787 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
14788 @item article-highlight
14789 Do highlights according to @code{gnus-article-display-hook} in the
14792 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
14794 Create menus in the group buffer.
14796 Create menus in the summary buffers.
14798 Create menus in the article buffer.
14800 Create menus in the browse buffer.
14802 Create menus in the server buffer.
14804 Create menus in the score buffers.
14806 Create menus in all buffers.
14809 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
14810 buffers, you could say something like:
14813 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
14816 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
14819 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
14822 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
14823 in all Gnus buffers.
14825 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
14828 @item gnus-mouse-face
14829 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
14830 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
14831 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
14835 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
14839 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
14840 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
14841 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
14843 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
14844 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
14845 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
14847 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
14848 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
14849 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
14851 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
14852 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
14853 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
14855 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
14856 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
14857 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
14859 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
14860 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
14861 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
14872 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
14873 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
14874 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
14875 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
14876 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
14880 @vindex gnus-carpal
14881 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
14882 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
14883 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
14888 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14889 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14890 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
14892 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
14893 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
14894 Face used on buttons.
14896 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
14897 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
14898 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
14900 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
14901 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
14902 Buttons in the group buffer.
14904 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
14905 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
14906 Buttons in the summary buffer.
14908 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
14909 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
14910 Buttons in the server buffer.
14912 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
14913 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
14914 Buttons in the browse buffer.
14917 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
14918 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
14919 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
14927 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
14928 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
14929 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
14930 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
14931 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
14933 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
14934 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
14935 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
14937 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
14938 been idle for thirty minutes:
14941 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
14944 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
14948 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
14951 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
14952 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
14953 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
14955 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
14956 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
14957 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
14958 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
14960 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
14961 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
14962 @var{idle} minutes.
14964 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
14965 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
14968 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
14969 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
14970 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
14972 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
14973 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
14974 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
14975 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
14977 @vindex gnus-use-demon
14978 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
14979 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
14981 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
14982 your @file{.gnus} file:
14984 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
14986 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
14989 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
14990 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
14991 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
14992 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
14993 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
14994 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
14995 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
14996 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
14997 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
14998 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
14999 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
15001 @findex gnus-demon-init
15002 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
15003 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
15004 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
15005 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
15006 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
15008 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
15009 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
15010 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
15019 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
15020 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
15022 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
15023 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
15024 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
15025 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
15028 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
15029 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
15030 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
15031 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
15033 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
15034 this will make spam disappear.
15036 There are some variables to customize, of course:
15039 @item gnus-use-nocem
15040 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
15041 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
15044 @item gnus-nocem-groups
15045 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
15046 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
15047 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
15048 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
15050 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
15051 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
15052 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
15053 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
15054 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
15055 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
15056 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
15058 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
15061 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
15062 @cindex Chris Lewis
15063 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
15064 usenet abuse than anybody else.
15067 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
15068 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
15069 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
15071 @item jem@@xpat.com;
15073 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
15076 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
15077 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
15078 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
15081 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
15082 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
15083 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
15084 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
15085 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
15086 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
15087 @var{(issuer conditions ...)} elements in the list. Each condition is
15088 either a string (which is a regexp that matches types you want to use)
15089 or a list on the form @code{(not STRING)}, where @var{string} is a
15090 regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
15092 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
15093 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
15096 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
15099 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
15100 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
15103 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
15106 The specs are applied left-to-right.
15109 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
15110 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
15112 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
15113 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
15114 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
15115 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
15117 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
15118 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
15121 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
15123 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
15131 This might be dangerous, though.
15133 @item gnus-nocem-directory
15134 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
15135 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
15136 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
15138 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
15139 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
15140 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
15141 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
15142 might then see old spam.
15146 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
15147 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
15148 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
15149 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
15156 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
15157 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
15158 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
15160 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
15161 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
15162 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
15163 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
15164 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
15165 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
15166 @code{undo} function.
15168 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
15169 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
15170 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
15171 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
15172 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
15173 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
15174 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
15175 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
15176 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
15177 never be totally undoable.
15179 @findex gnus-undo-mode
15180 @vindex gnus-use-undo
15182 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
15183 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
15184 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
15185 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
15190 @section Moderation
15193 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
15194 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
15195 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
15198 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
15202 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
15205 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
15207 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
15212 You split your incoming mail by matching on
15213 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
15214 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
15217 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
15218 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
15221 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
15222 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
15226 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
15229 (setq gnus-moderated-list
15230 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
15234 @node XEmacs Enhancements
15235 @section XEmacs Enhancements
15238 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
15242 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
15243 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
15244 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
15245 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
15258 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
15259 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
15260 over your shoulder as you read news.
15263 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
15264 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
15265 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
15266 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
15267 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
15272 @subsubsection Picon Basics
15274 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
15283 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
15284 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
15285 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
15286 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
15287 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
15288 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
15289 @code{GIF} formats.
15292 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15293 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
15294 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
15295 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
15296 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
15298 @vindex gnus-picons-database
15299 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
15300 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
15301 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
15302 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
15303 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
15306 @node Picon Requirements
15307 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
15309 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
15310 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
15313 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
15314 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
15315 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
15317 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15318 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
15319 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
15320 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
15321 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
15325 @subsubsection Easy Picons
15327 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
15328 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
15331 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
15332 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
15333 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
15334 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
15335 'gnus-picons-article-display-x-face)
15338 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
15339 containing the Picons databases.
15341 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
15344 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15345 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
15350 @subsubsection Hard Picons
15358 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
15359 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
15360 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
15361 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
15362 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
15367 @item gnus-picons-database
15368 @vindex gnus-picons-database
15369 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
15370 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
15371 subdirectories. This is only useful if
15372 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
15373 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
15375 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15376 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15377 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
15378 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
15379 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
15380 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
15381 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
15383 @item gnus-picons-display-where
15384 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
15385 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
15386 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
15387 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
15388 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
15389 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
15390 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
15392 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
15393 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
15394 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
15399 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
15400 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
15402 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
15403 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
15406 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
15407 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
15409 @item gnus-article-display-picons
15410 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
15411 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
15412 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer. Should be added to the
15413 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
15415 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
15416 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
15417 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present. This function
15418 should be added to @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
15422 Note: You must append them to the hook, so make sure to specify 't'
15423 for the append flag of @code{add-hook}:
15426 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
15430 @node Picon Useless Configuration
15431 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
15439 The following variables offer further control over how things are
15440 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
15441 don't need to worry about.
15445 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
15446 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
15447 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
15448 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
15450 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
15451 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
15452 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
15453 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
15455 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
15456 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
15457 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
15458 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
15459 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
15461 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15462 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15463 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
15464 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
15465 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
15466 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
15467 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
15469 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
15470 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
15471 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
15472 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
15474 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
15475 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
15476 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
15477 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
15478 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
15479 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
15480 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
15482 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
15483 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
15484 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
15485 Defaults to @code{nil}.
15487 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
15488 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
15489 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
15490 Defaults to @code{t}.
15492 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
15493 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
15494 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
15495 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
15497 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
15498 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
15499 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
15500 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
15502 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
15503 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
15504 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
15505 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
15506 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
15507 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
15508 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
15509 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
15520 @subsection Smileys
15525 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
15530 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
15531 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
15533 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
15534 @file{.gnus.el} file:
15537 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-smiley-display t)
15540 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
15541 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
15542 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
15543 text and maps that to file names.
15545 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
15546 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
15547 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
15548 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
15549 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
15550 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
15552 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
15553 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
15555 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
15556 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
15557 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
15559 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
15560 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
15564 @item smiley-data-directory
15565 @vindex smiley-data-directory
15566 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
15568 @item smiley-flesh-color
15569 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
15570 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
15572 @item smiley-features-color
15573 @vindex smiley-features-color
15574 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
15576 @item smiley-tongue-color
15577 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
15578 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
15580 @item smiley-circle-color
15581 @vindex smiley-circle-color
15582 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
15584 @item smiley-mouse-face
15585 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
15586 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
15592 @subsection Toolbar
15602 @item gnus-use-toolbar
15603 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
15604 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
15605 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
15606 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
15608 @item gnus-group-toolbar
15609 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
15610 The toolbar in the group buffer.
15612 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
15613 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
15614 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
15616 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
15617 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
15618 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
15624 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
15627 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
15628 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
15629 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
15630 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
15631 unusual directory structure.
15633 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
15634 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
15635 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
15636 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
15638 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
15639 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
15640 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
15641 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
15642 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
15643 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
15645 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
15646 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
15647 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
15661 @node Fuzzy Matching
15662 @section Fuzzy Matching
15663 @cindex fuzzy matching
15665 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
15666 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
15668 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
15669 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
15670 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
15672 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
15673 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
15674 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
15675 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
15676 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
15679 @node Thwarting Email Spam
15680 @section Thwarting Email Spam
15684 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
15686 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
15687 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
15688 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
15689 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
15690 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
15691 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
15692 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
15693 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
15696 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
15697 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
15698 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
15699 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
15700 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
15701 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
15705 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
15706 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
15708 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
15709 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
15710 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
15711 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
15712 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
15713 part of the mail address.)
15716 (setq message-default-news-headers
15717 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
15720 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
15721 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
15726 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
15727 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
15728 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
15734 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
15735 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
15736 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
15737 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
15739 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
15740 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
15741 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
15742 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
15743 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
15744 your fancy split rule in this way:
15749 (to "larsi" "misc")
15753 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
15754 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
15755 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
15756 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
15757 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
15759 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
15760 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
15761 at @* @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
15762 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
15763 cosmic balance somewhat.
15765 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
15766 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
15767 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
15768 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
15771 @node Various Various
15772 @section Various Various
15778 @item gnus-home-directory
15779 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
15780 defaults to @file{~/}.
15782 @item gnus-directory
15783 @vindex gnus-directory
15784 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
15785 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
15786 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
15788 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
15789 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
15790 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
15791 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
15793 @item gnus-default-directory
15794 @vindex gnus-default-directory
15795 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
15796 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
15797 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
15798 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
15799 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
15800 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
15803 @vindex gnus-verbose
15804 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
15805 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
15806 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
15807 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
15808 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
15810 @item gnus-verbose-backends
15811 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
15812 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
15813 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
15815 @item nnheader-max-head-length
15816 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
15817 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
15818 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
15819 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
15820 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
15821 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
15822 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
15823 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
15824 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
15826 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
15827 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
15828 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
15829 read when doing the operation described above.
15831 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15832 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15834 @cindex invalid characters in file names
15835 @cindex characters in file names
15836 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
15837 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
15838 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
15841 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15845 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
15846 Windows (phooey) systems.
15848 @item gnus-hidden-properties
15849 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
15850 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
15851 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
15852 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
15854 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
15855 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
15856 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
15857 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
15858 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
15860 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
15861 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
15862 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
15871 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
15872 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
15874 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
15876 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
15882 Not because of victories @*
15885 but for the common sunshine,@*
15887 the largess of the spring.
15891 but for the day's work done@*
15892 as well as I was able;@*
15893 not for a seat upon the dais@*
15894 but at the common table.@*
15899 @chapter Appendices
15902 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
15903 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
15904 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
15905 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
15906 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
15907 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
15908 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
15916 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
15917 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
15919 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
15920 can point your (feh!) web browser to
15921 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
15922 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
15923 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
15925 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
15926 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
15927 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
15928 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
15929 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
15930 appropriate name, don't you think?)
15932 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
15933 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
15934 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
15935 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
15937 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
15938 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
15939 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
15941 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
15942 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
15944 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
15945 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
15947 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37
15948 releases. If was released as ``Gnus 5.6 on March 8th 1998.
15950 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
15951 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
15952 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
15953 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
15954 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
15958 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
15959 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
15960 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
15961 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
15962 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
15963 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
15964 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
15971 What's the point of Gnus?
15973 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
15974 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
15975 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
15976 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
15977 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
15978 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
15979 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
15980 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
15981 keep track of millions of people who post?
15983 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
15984 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
15985 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
15986 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
15987 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
15988 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
15989 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
15990 every one of you to explore and invent.
15992 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
15993 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
15996 @node Compatibility
15997 @subsection Compatibility
15999 @cindex compatibility
16000 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
16001 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
16002 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
16007 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
16011 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
16014 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
16017 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
16018 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
16019 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
16020 important variables have their values copied into their global
16021 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
16022 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
16024 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
16025 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
16026 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
16027 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
16028 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
16032 @cindex highlighting
16033 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
16034 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
16035 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
16036 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
16037 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
16038 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
16041 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
16042 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
16043 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
16044 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
16046 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
16047 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
16048 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
16049 to stop doing it the old way.
16051 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
16053 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
16055 @cindex reporting bugs
16057 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
16058 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
16059 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
16061 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
16062 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
16063 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
16064 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
16069 @subsection Conformity
16071 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
16072 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
16079 There are no known breaches of this standard.
16083 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
16085 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
16086 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
16087 We do have some breaches to this one.
16092 Gnus does not yet fully handle MIME, and this standard-to-be seems to
16093 think that MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
16096 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
16097 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
16098 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
16099 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
16100 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
16105 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
16106 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
16107 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
16108 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
16112 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
16113 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
16118 @subsection Emacsen
16124 Gnus should work on :
16132 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
16136 Gnus will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than that. Not
16137 reliably, at least.
16139 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
16140 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
16141 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
16146 @subsection Contributors
16147 @cindex contributors
16149 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
16150 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
16151 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
16152 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
16153 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
16154 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
16155 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
16156 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
16157 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
16158 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
16160 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
16166 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
16169 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
16170 well as numerous other things).
16173 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
16176 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
16179 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el and many other things
16180 connected with @sc{mime} and other types of en/decoding.
16183 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
16184 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
16187 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
16190 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
16191 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
16194 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
16197 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
16200 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
16203 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
16206 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
16207 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
16210 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
16213 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
16216 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
16219 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
16223 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
16226 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
16229 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
16232 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
16233 well as autoconf support.
16237 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
16238 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
16240 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
16249 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
16253 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
16275 Massimo Campostrini,
16283 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
16289 Michael Welsh Duggan,
16292 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
16296 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
16303 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
16305 Michelangelo Grigni,
16308 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
16310 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
16312 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
16317 François Felix Ingrand,
16318 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
16320 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
16329 Peter Skov Knudsen,
16330 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
16331 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
16332 Thor Kristoffersen,
16335 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
16352 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
16353 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
16360 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
16364 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
16367 John McClary Prevost,
16373 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
16378 Christian von Roques,
16380 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
16387 Philippe Schnoebelen,
16389 Randal L. Schwartz,
16419 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka.
16421 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
16422 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
16423 (550kB and counting).
16425 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
16428 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
16429 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
16433 @subsection New Features
16434 @cindex new features
16437 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
16438 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
16439 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
16440 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
16443 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
16444 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
16445 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
16449 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
16451 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
16456 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
16457 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
16460 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
16461 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
16464 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
16467 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
16468 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
16469 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
16472 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
16473 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
16474 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
16475 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
16478 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
16479 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16482 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
16483 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
16484 (@pxref{The Active File}).
16487 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
16488 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
16491 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
16492 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
16493 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
16496 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
16497 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
16498 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
16501 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
16502 the @file{.emacs} file.
16505 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
16506 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16509 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
16510 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
16513 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
16514 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16517 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
16518 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
16521 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
16522 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
16525 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
16528 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
16529 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
16532 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
16533 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
16536 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
16537 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
16540 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
16543 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
16544 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
16547 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
16551 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
16555 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
16556 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
16559 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
16565 @node September Gnus
16566 @subsubsection September Gnus
16570 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
16574 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
16579 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
16580 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
16584 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
16585 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
16589 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
16593 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
16594 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
16597 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
16601 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
16604 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
16607 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
16610 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
16614 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
16615 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
16618 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
16622 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
16626 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
16630 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
16634 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
16637 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
16638 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
16641 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
16645 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
16646 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
16649 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
16652 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
16653 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
16654 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
16657 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
16661 The Gnus cache is much faster.
16664 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
16668 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
16669 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
16672 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
16673 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
16676 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
16677 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
16680 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
16681 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
16682 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
16685 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
16686 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
16689 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
16692 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
16695 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16696 'gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head)
16700 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
16703 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
16706 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
16707 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
16710 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
16714 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
16717 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
16722 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
16725 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
16729 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16732 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
16736 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
16739 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
16742 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
16743 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
16746 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
16747 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
16751 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
16752 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
16755 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
16759 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
16760 buffer to allow easier treatment.
16763 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
16766 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
16770 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
16774 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
16775 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
16778 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
16782 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
16783 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
16786 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
16787 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16790 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
16794 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16797 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16798 'gnus-article-hide-boring-headers t)
16802 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
16805 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
16811 @subsubsection Red Gnus
16813 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
16817 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
16824 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
16827 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
16828 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
16831 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
16832 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
16836 Article washing status can be displayed in the
16837 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
16840 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
16843 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
16844 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
16847 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
16851 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
16852 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
16856 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
16857 Server Internals}).
16860 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
16864 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
16867 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
16868 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
16871 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
16872 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
16873 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
16876 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
16877 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
16880 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
16881 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
16884 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
16888 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
16889 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
16892 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
16893 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
16896 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
16900 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
16903 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
16907 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
16908 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
16911 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
16912 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
16915 A new command for reading collections of documents
16916 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
16917 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
16920 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
16924 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
16925 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
16928 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
16929 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
16930 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
16933 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
16934 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
16938 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
16942 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
16946 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
16951 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
16955 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
16959 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
16960 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
16963 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
16966 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16967 'gnus-article-emphasize)
16974 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
16976 New features in Gnus 5.6:
16981 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
16982 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
16983 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
16986 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
16987 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
16988 group, which is created automatically.
16991 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
16995 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
16998 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
16999 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
17002 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
17006 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
17009 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
17010 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
17013 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
17016 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
17017 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
17020 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
17021 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
17024 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
17025 control over simplification.
17028 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
17031 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
17035 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
17038 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
17041 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
17042 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
17043 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
17046 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
17047 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
17050 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
17054 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
17055 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
17058 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
17059 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
17062 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
17066 A history of where mails have been split is available.
17069 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
17072 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
17073 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
17076 A new function for citing in Message has been
17077 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
17080 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
17083 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
17087 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
17088 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
17091 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
17092 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
17095 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
17098 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
17103 @node Newest Features
17104 @subsection Newest Features
17107 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
17110 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
17112 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
17113 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
17116 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
17121 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
17124 Really do unbinhexing.
17127 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
17128 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
17131 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
17134 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
17137 facep is not declared.
17140 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
17141 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
17144 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
17149 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
17150 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
17151 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
17152 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
17153 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
17154 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
17155 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
17160 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
17163 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
17166 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
17168 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
17169 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
17171 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
17173 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
17175 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
17176 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
17178 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
17180 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
17181 be marked as unread.
17183 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
17185 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
17187 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
17188 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
17190 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
17192 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
17194 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
17195 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
17197 topics that contain just groups with ticked
17198 articles aren't displayed.
17200 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
17202 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
17203 make the mail groups killed.
17205 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
17207 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
17208 and articles have to be removed.
17210 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
17213 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
17215 finding short score file names takes forever.
17217 canceling articles in foreign groups.
17219 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
17221 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
17223 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
17225 nnweb doesn't work properly.
17227 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
17229 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
17230 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
17234 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
17236 really unbinhex binhex files.
17238 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
17239 bar and the Gnus bar.
17242 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
17243 `(canonize-message-id id)'
17244 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
17245 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
17246 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
17247 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
17252 nnml .overview directory with splits.
17256 postponed commands.
17258 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
17260 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
17263 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
17264 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
17266 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
17267 inherit copy prompts and save files.
17269 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
17271 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
17272 for backends that support that.
17274 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
17276 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
17277 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
17279 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
17280 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
17282 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
17284 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
17286 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
17288 server mode command: close/open all connections
17290 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
17291 has been changed before using it.
17293 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
17295 hide (sub)threads with low score.
17297 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
17299 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
17301 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
17302 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
17304 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
17305 contain groups that match a regexp.
17307 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
17310 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
17313 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
17314 from subject lines.
17316 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
17318 nntp-ping-before-connect
17320 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
17322 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
17323 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
17325 message annotations.
17327 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
17329 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
17330 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
17332 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
17337 support qmail maildir spools
17339 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
17341 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
17343 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
17345 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
17346 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
17348 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
17350 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
17352 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
17353 finds and generate proper active ranges.
17355 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
17356 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
17358 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
17360 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
17362 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
17363 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
17365 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
17367 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
17369 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
17370 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
17373 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
17375 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
17377 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
17378 `C-c C-c' when posting.
17380 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
17383 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
17384 should be marker as expirable.
17386 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
17388 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
17389 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
17391 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
17392 Also consult Date headers.
17394 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
17396 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
17398 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
17399 Message-ID, delete the "original".
17401 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
17402 into a See-Also header.
17404 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
17406 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
17408 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
17409 should be listed as such and not as "K".
17411 generate font names dynamically.
17413 score file mode auto-alist.
17415 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
17416 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
17418 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
17419 absolutely all headers there is.
17421 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
17422 and pipe them to the process.
17424 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
17425 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
17426 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
17428 function for starting to edit a file to put into
17429 the current mail group.
17431 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
17433 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
17434 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
17436 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
17437 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
17439 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
17441 when replying to several process-marked articles,
17442 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
17444 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
17445 groups it has been mailed to.
17447 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
17449 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
17451 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
17453 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
17454 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
17456 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
17457 newlines) should be ignored.
17459 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
17460 groups in subtopics as well.
17462 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
17464 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
17467 add edit and forward secondary marks.
17469 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
17471 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
17473 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
17475 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
17477 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
17479 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
17480 or the formatted article.
17482 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
17484 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
17485 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
17487 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
17489 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
17491 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
17493 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
17494 even unread articles.
17496 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
17498 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
17500 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
17502 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
17504 canceling articles in foreign groups.
17506 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
17509 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
17510 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
17512 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
17513 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
17515 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
17517 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
17519 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
17520 from a particular server? Hm.
17522 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
17523 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
17525 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
17527 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
17528 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
17530 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
17531 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
17533 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
17534 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
17535 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
17538 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
17539 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
17541 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
17543 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
17545 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
17547 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
17550 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
17553 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
17554 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
17556 command to show and edit group scores
17558 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
17561 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
17563 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
17565 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
17566 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
17569 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
17570 that are of that length.
17572 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
17574 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
17576 asynchronous posting under nntp.
17578 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
17580 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
17582 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
17584 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
17585 a score lower than this number.
17587 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
17589 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
17591 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
17592 so that each copy can be edited separately.
17594 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
17596 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
17597 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
17599 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
17602 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
17603 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
17604 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
17605 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
17607 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
17610 command to remove all topic stuff.
17612 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
17613 and splitting the resulting digests.
17615 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
17617 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
17619 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
17620 matches an alist -- before saving.
17622 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
17624 variable to activate each group before entering them
17625 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
17627 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
17628 starting Gnus first if necessary.
17630 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
17631 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
17633 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
17635 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
17636 of several groups at once.
17638 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
17639 matches some regexp(s).
17641 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
17643 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
17645 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
17647 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
17649 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
17651 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
17653 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
17655 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
17656 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
17657 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
17658 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
17660 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
17661 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
17663 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
17665 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
17666 recently cited text.
17668 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
17670 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
17673 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
17674 server and just read the articles in the server
17676 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
17677 value of nnoo variables.
17679 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
17681 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
17682 listed in each group info.
17684 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
17687 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
17688 should only be applied to some groups.
17690 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
17691 mail-copies-to: never.
17693 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
17694 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
17696 the slave dribble files should auto-save to the slave file names.
17698 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
17701 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
17704 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
17706 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
17709 group user-defined meta-parameters.
17713 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
17715 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
17716 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
17717 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
17718 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
17719 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
17721 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at @*
17722 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
17729 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
17730 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
17732 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
17733 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
17735 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
17736 "Return the date the group was last read."
17737 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
17742 tanken var at når du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til å lete
17743 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den være en
17744 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
17745 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
17749 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
17750 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
17752 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
17755 They could be used like this:
17759 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
17760 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
17761 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
17763 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
17765 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
17768 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
17771 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
17772 affect the summary line format.
17776 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
17778 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
17779 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
17781 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
17784 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
17786 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
17788 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
17790 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
17792 - For other files, just find them normally.
17794 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
17795 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
17798 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
17799 tell him what you are doing.
17802 Currently, I get prompted:
17806 decend into sci.something ?
17810 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
17811 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
17812 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
17813 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
17816 Ja, det burde være en måte å si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
17817 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? SÃ¥ kunne score-regler legges til den
17818 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
17819 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
17822 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
17823 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
17829 more than n blank lines
17831 more than m identical lines
17832 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
17834 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
17838 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
17839 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
17840 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
17841 "same" subject for threading purposes.
17844 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
17845 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
17846 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
17847 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
17850 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
17853 soup - bowl of soup
17854 score below - dim light bulb
17855 score over - bright light bulb
17858 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
17863 show-list-of-articles-in-group
17864 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17865 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
17866 if (articles-selected)
17867 start-reading-selected-articles;
17868 junk-unread-articles;
17873 else if (key-pressed = '.')
17874 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
17875 select-thread-under-cursor;
17877 select-article-under-cursor;
17881 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17882 if (more-pages-in-article)
17884 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
17891 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
17892 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
17893 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
17896 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
17897 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
17898 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
17899 the wildcard expression).
17902 It would be nice if it also handled
17904 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
17906 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
17911 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
17912 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
17913 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
17914 article versions) variable.
17916 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
17918 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
17919 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
17923 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
17926 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
17927 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
17928 (message-sent-hook).
17930 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
17933 * Enhancements to Gnus:
17937 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
17938 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
17941 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
17942 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
17943 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
17946 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
17947 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
17951 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
17954 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
17958 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
17959 the nnmail duplicate checking.
17962 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
17963 value of the signature file.
17966 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
17967 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
17970 (setq message-tab-alist
17971 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
17972 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
17974 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
17978 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
17981 a command to import a buffer into a group.
17984 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
17987 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
17988 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
17991 a command to process mark all unread articles.
17994 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
17995 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
17996 do more gathering by subject.
17999 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
18000 article numerical order.
18003 (gnus-thread-total-score
18004 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
18008 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
18011 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
18012 in the summary buffer.
18015 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
18016 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
18019 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
18020 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
18021 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
18022 and/or newsgroup name.
18025 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
18028 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
18031 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
18034 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
18035 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
18036 will automatically get the process mark.
18039 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
18040 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
18041 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
18044 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
18048 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
18049 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
18052 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
18053 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
18057 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
18058 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
18061 be able to post via DejaNews.
18064 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
18067 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
18068 allow them to be displayed separately.
18071 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
18072 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
18075 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
18076 articles that match a certain From header.
18079 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
18080 saving living summary buffers.
18083 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
18084 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
18087 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
18088 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
18091 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
18092 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
18095 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
18096 (goto-char (point-min))
18097 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
18098 (replace-match "`" t t))
18099 (goto-char (point-min))
18100 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
18101 (replace-match "'" t t))
18102 (goto-char (point-min))
18103 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
18104 (replace-match "\"" t t))
18105 (goto-char (point-min))
18106 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
18107 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
18112 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
18114 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
18115 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
18116 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
18117 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
18121 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
18124 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
18125 numbers and match on the age of the article.
18129 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
18130 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
18131 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
18133 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
18134 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
18136 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
18137 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
18142 all commands that react to the process mark should push
18143 the current process mark set onto the stack.
18146 gnus-article-hide-pgp
18147 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt å slette den dersom teksten matcher
18149 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
18151 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
18152 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
18155 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
18156 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
18159 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
18163 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
18164 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
18167 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
18170 nndraft-request-group should tally auto-save files.
18173 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
18176 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
18180 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
18186 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
18189 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
18193 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
18194 X characters in the body.
18197 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
18200 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
18203 format spec to "tab" to a position.
18206 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
18209 command to display all dormant articles.
18212 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
18215 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
18216 to something someone else has said.
18219 Read Netscape discussion groups:
18220 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
18223 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
18224 the displayed version.
18227 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
18231 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
18234 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
18235 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
18236 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
18240 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
18241 in the head or body.
18244 Allow breaking lengthy NNTP commands.
18247 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
18250 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
18251 in a special, unique buffer.
18254 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
18257 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
18258 is less than a certain number of days old.
18261 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
18264 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
18267 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
18268 file, for instance.
18271 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
18272 in any other dummy thread will make Gnus highlight the
18273 dummy root instead of the first article.
18276 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
18277 topics for displaying.
18280 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
18281 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
18284 gnus-posting-styles doesn't work in drafts.
18287 gnus-summary-limit-include-cached is slow when there are
18288 many articles in the cache, since it regenerates big parts of the
18289 summary buffer for each article.
18292 Implement gnus-batch-brew-soup.
18295 Group parameters and summary commands for un/subscribing to mailing
18299 Introduce nnmail-home-directory.
18302 gnus-fetch-group and friends should exit Gnus when the user
18306 The jingle is only played on the second invocation of Gnus.
18309 Bouncing articles should do MIME.
18312 Crossposted articles should "inherit" the % or @ mark from the other
18313 groups it has been crossposted to, or something. (Agent.)
18316 `S D r' should allow expansion of aliases.
18319 If point is on a group that appears multiple times in topics, and
18320 you press `l', point will move to the first instance of the group.
18323 The documentation should mention pop3.el, fetchmail, smtpmail and why
18324 po:username often fails.
18327 Fetch by Message-ID from dejanews.
18329 <URL:http://search.dejanews.com/msgid.xp?MID=%3C62h9l9$hm4@@basement.replay.com%3E&fmt=raw>
18332 Solve the halting problem.
18341 @section The Manual
18345 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
18346 either @code{texi2dvi}
18348 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
18349 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
18351 to get what you hold in your hands now.
18353 The following conventions have been used:
18358 This is a @samp{string}
18361 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
18364 This is a @file{file}
18367 This is a @code{symbol}
18371 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
18375 (setq flargnoze "yes")
18378 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
18381 (setq flumphel 'yes)
18384 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
18385 ever get them confused.
18389 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
18390 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
18391 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
18392 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
18393 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
18394 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
18395 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
18403 @section Terminology
18405 @cindex terminology
18410 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
18411 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
18412 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
18413 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
18414 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
18418 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
18419 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
18420 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
18421 not posting, and replying is not following up.
18425 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
18429 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
18434 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
18435 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
18436 is all done by the backends.
18440 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
18441 default, way of getting news.
18445 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
18446 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
18451 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
18452 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
18456 A message that has been posted as news.
18459 @cindex mail message
18460 A message that has been mailed.
18464 A mail message or news article
18468 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
18473 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
18478 A line from the head of an article.
18482 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
18483 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
18487 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
18488 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
18489 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
18490 normal @sc{head} format.
18494 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
18495 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
18496 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
18497 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
18498 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
18499 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
18501 @item killed groups
18502 @cindex killed groups
18503 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
18504 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
18506 @item zombie groups
18507 @cindex zombie groups
18508 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
18511 @cindex active file
18512 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
18513 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
18514 is rather large, as you might surmise.
18517 @cindex bogus groups
18518 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
18519 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
18520 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
18523 @cindex activating groups
18524 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
18525 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
18526 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
18530 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
18532 @item select method
18533 @cindex select method
18534 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
18537 @item virtual server
18538 @cindex virtual server
18539 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
18540 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
18541 whole is a virtual server.
18545 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
18546 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
18549 @item ephemeral groups
18550 @cindex ephemeral groups
18551 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
18552 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
18553 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
18556 @cindex solid groups
18557 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
18558 group buffer are solid groups.
18560 @item sparse articles
18561 @cindex sparse articles
18562 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
18563 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
18567 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
18568 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
18572 @cindex thread root
18573 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
18574 articles in the thread.
18578 An article that has responses.
18582 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
18586 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
18587 specified by RFC1153.
18593 @node Customization
18594 @section Customization
18595 @cindex general customization
18597 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
18598 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
18599 for some quite common situations.
18602 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
18603 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
18604 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
18605 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
18609 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
18610 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
18612 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
18613 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
18614 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
18618 @item gnus-read-active-file
18619 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
18620 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
18621 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
18622 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
18623 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
18625 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
18626 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
18627 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
18628 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
18632 @node Slow Terminal Connection
18633 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
18635 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
18636 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
18637 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
18641 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
18642 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
18643 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
18644 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
18645 horizontal and vertical recentering.
18647 @item gnus-visible-headers
18648 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
18649 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
18650 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
18651 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
18653 @item gnus-article-display-hook
18654 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
18656 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
18657 '(gnus-article-hide-headers
18658 gnus-article-hide-signature
18659 gnus-article-hide-citation))
18662 @item gnus-use-full-window
18663 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
18664 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
18665 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
18666 want to read them anyway.
18668 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
18669 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
18672 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
18673 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
18674 lines, which might save some time.
18678 @node Little Disk Space
18679 @subsection Little Disk Space
18682 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
18683 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
18687 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
18688 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
18689 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
18690 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
18693 @item gnus-save-killed-list
18694 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
18695 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
18696 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
18697 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
18703 @subsection Slow Machine
18704 @cindex slow machine
18706 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
18707 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
18709 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
18710 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
18712 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
18713 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
18714 summary buffer faster.
18716 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
18717 processing a bit faster.
18721 @node Troubleshooting
18722 @section Troubleshooting
18723 @cindex troubleshooting
18725 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
18733 Make sure your computer is switched on.
18736 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
18737 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
18741 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
18742 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
18743 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
18744 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
18747 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
18751 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
18752 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
18753 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
18754 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
18755 something like that.
18758 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
18761 @cindex reporting bugs
18763 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
18765 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
18766 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
18767 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
18768 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
18770 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
18771 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
18772 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
18773 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
18776 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
18777 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
18778 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
18779 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
18780 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
18781 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
18783 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
18784 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
18785 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
18788 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
18789 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
18791 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
18792 @cindex ding mailing list
18793 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
18794 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
18798 @node Gnus Reference Guide
18799 @section Gnus Reference Guide
18801 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
18802 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
18803 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
18804 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
18807 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
18808 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
18809 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
18810 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
18811 and general methods of operation.
18814 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
18815 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
18816 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
18817 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
18818 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
18819 * Group Info:: The group info format.
18820 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
18821 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
18822 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
18826 @node Gnus Utility Functions
18827 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
18828 @cindex Gnus utility functions
18829 @cindex utility functions
18831 @cindex internal variables
18833 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
18834 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
18835 Below is a list of the most common ones.
18839 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
18840 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
18841 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
18843 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
18844 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
18845 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
18847 @item gnus-group-real-name
18848 @findex gnus-group-real-name
18849 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
18852 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
18853 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
18854 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
18855 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
18857 @item gnus-get-info
18858 @findex gnus-get-info
18859 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
18861 @item gnus-group-unread
18862 @findex gnus-group-unread
18863 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
18867 @findex gnus-active
18868 The active entry for @var{group}.
18870 @item gnus-set-active
18871 @findex gnus-set-active
18872 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
18874 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18875 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18876 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
18879 @item gnus-continuum-version
18880 @findex gnus-continuum-version
18881 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
18882 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
18885 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
18886 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
18887 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
18889 @item gnus-news-group-p
18890 @findex gnus-news-group-p
18891 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
18893 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18894 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18895 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
18897 @item gnus-server-to-method
18898 @findex gnus-server-to-method
18899 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
18901 @item gnus-server-equal
18902 @findex gnus-server-equal
18903 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
18905 @item gnus-group-native-p
18906 @findex gnus-group-native-p
18907 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
18909 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
18910 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
18911 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
18913 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
18914 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
18915 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
18917 @item group-group-find-parameter
18918 @findex group-group-find-parameter
18919 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
18920 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
18922 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
18923 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
18924 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
18926 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
18927 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
18928 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
18930 @item gnus-check-backend-function
18931 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
18932 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
18933 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
18936 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
18940 @item gnus-read-method
18941 @findex gnus-read-method
18942 Prompts the user for a select method.
18947 @node Backend Interface
18948 @subsection Backend Interface
18950 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
18951 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
18952 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
18953 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
18954 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
18955 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
18957 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
18958 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
18959 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
18960 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
18961 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
18962 been opened, the function should fail.
18964 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
18965 name. Take this example:
18969 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
18970 (nntp-port-number 4324))
18973 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
18974 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
18976 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
18977 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
18978 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
18980 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
18981 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
18982 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
18984 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
18985 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
18986 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
18987 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
18988 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
18989 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
18992 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
18993 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
18994 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
18995 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
18998 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
19001 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
19004 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
19005 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
19006 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
19007 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
19008 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
19009 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
19013 @node Required Backend Functions
19014 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
19018 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
19020 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
19021 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
19022 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
19023 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
19025 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
19026 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
19027 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
19028 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
19030 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
19031 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
19032 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
19033 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
19034 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
19035 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
19036 number, do maximum fetches.
19038 Here's an example HEAD:
19041 221 1056 Article retrieved.
19042 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
19043 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
19044 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
19045 Subject: Re: Something very droll
19046 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
19047 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
19049 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
19050 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
19051 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
19055 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
19056 these in the data buffer.
19058 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
19062 head = error / valid-head
19063 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
19064 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
19065 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
19066 header = <text> eol
19069 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
19070 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
19074 nov-buffer = *nov-line
19075 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
19076 field = <text except TAB>
19079 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
19083 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
19085 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
19086 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
19088 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
19089 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
19090 server. In fact, it should do so.
19092 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
19093 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
19096 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
19098 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
19099 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
19102 There should be no data returned.
19105 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
19107 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
19108 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
19109 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
19110 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
19112 There should be no data returned.
19115 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
19117 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
19118 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
19119 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
19120 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
19122 There should be no data returned.
19125 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
19127 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
19129 There should be no data returned.
19132 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
19134 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
19135 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
19136 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
19137 it would be nice if that were possible.
19139 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
19140 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
19141 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
19142 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
19143 into its article buffer.
19145 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
19146 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
19147 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
19148 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
19149 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
19150 on successful article retrieval.
19153 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
19155 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
19156 making @var{group} the current group.
19158 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
19161 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
19164 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
19167 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
19168 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
19169 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
19170 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
19171 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
19172 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
19173 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
19174 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
19177 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
19178 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
19179 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
19183 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
19185 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
19186 a no-op on most backends.
19188 There should be no data returned.
19191 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
19193 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
19196 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
19199 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
19200 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
19203 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
19204 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
19207 active-file = *active-line
19208 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
19210 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
19213 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
19214 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
19215 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
19218 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
19220 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
19221 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
19222 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
19223 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
19224 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
19225 clear if the posting could not be completed.
19227 There should be no result data from this function.
19232 @node Optional Backend Functions
19233 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
19237 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
19239 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
19240 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
19241 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
19243 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
19244 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
19245 former is in the same format as the data from
19246 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
19247 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
19250 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
19254 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
19256 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
19257 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
19258 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
19259 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
19260 should return the (altered) group info.
19262 There should be no result data from this function.
19265 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
19267 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
19268 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
19269 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
19270 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
19271 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
19272 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
19273 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
19274 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
19276 There should be no result data from this function.
19279 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
19281 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
19282 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
19283 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as IMAP) however carry all
19284 information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to propagate
19285 the mark information to the server.
19287 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
19290 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
19293 Range is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. Action is
19294 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
19295 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
19296 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
19297 mentioned) marks. Mark is a list of marks; where each mark is a
19298 symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
19299 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
19300 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
19301 not limit itself to theese.
19303 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
19304 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
19305 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
19306 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
19308 An example action list:
19311 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
19312 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
19313 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
19316 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
19317 mark on (currently not used for anything).
19319 There should be no result data from this function.
19321 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
19323 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
19324 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
19325 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
19326 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
19327 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
19329 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
19330 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
19331 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
19334 There should be no result data from this function.
19337 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
19339 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
19340 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
19341 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
19342 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
19343 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
19344 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
19345 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
19347 There should be no result data from this function.
19350 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
19352 The result data from this function should be a description of
19356 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
19358 description = <text>
19361 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
19363 The result data from this function should be the description of all
19364 groups available on the server.
19367 description-buffer = *description-line
19371 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
19373 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
19374 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
19375 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
19378 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
19380 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
19382 There should be no return data.
19385 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
19387 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
19388 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
19389 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
19390 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
19391 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
19394 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
19397 There should be no result data returned.
19400 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
19403 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
19404 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
19406 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
19407 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
19408 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
19409 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
19410 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
19411 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
19413 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
19414 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
19417 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
19418 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
19420 There should be no data returned.
19423 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
19425 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
19426 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
19427 this function in short order.
19429 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
19430 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
19432 There should be no data returned.
19435 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
19437 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
19438 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
19440 There should be no data returned.
19443 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
19445 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
19446 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
19447 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
19449 There should be no data returned.
19452 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
19454 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
19455 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
19457 There should be no data returned.
19462 @node Error Messaging
19463 @subsubsection Error Messaging
19465 @findex nnheader-report
19466 @findex nnheader-get-report
19467 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
19468 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
19469 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
19470 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
19471 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
19472 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
19475 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
19477 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
19480 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
19481 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
19482 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
19483 takes one argument---the server symbol.
19485 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
19486 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
19487 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
19490 @node Writing New Backends
19491 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
19493 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
19494 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
19495 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
19496 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
19497 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
19500 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
19501 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
19502 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
19504 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
19505 package called @code{nnoo}.
19507 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
19508 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
19514 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
19515 parameters. For instance:
19518 (nnoo-declare nndir
19522 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
19523 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
19526 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
19527 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
19528 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
19530 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
19531 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
19532 a function in those backends.
19535 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
19536 "Where nndir will look for groups."
19537 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
19540 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
19541 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
19542 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
19544 @item nnoo-define-basics
19545 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
19549 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
19553 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
19554 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
19555 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
19557 @item nnoo-map-functions
19558 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
19559 functions from the parent backends.
19562 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
19563 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19564 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
19567 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
19568 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
19569 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
19570 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
19573 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
19574 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
19575 haven't already been defined.
19581 nnmh-request-newgroups)
19585 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
19586 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
19587 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
19592 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
19595 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
19596 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
19600 (require 'nnheader)
19604 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
19606 (nnoo-declare nndir
19609 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
19610 "Where nndir will look for groups."
19611 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
19613 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
19614 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
19617 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
19618 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
19619 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
19621 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
19622 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
19624 ;;; Interface functions.
19626 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
19628 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
19629 (setq nndir-directory
19630 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
19632 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
19633 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
19634 (push `(nndir-current-group
19635 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
19637 (push `(nndir-top-directory
19638 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
19640 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
19642 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
19643 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19644 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19645 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
19646 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
19650 nnmh-status-message
19652 nnmh-request-newgroups))
19658 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
19659 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
19661 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
19662 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
19663 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
19664 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
19666 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
19667 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
19672 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
19675 The abilities can be:
19679 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
19681 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
19683 This backend supports both mail and news.
19685 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
19688 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
19689 articles and groups.
19691 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
19692 true for almost all backends.
19693 @item prompt-address
19694 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
19695 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
19696 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
19700 @node Mail-like Backends
19701 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
19703 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
19704 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
19705 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
19706 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
19709 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
19710 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
19711 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
19714 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
19715 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
19718 This function takes four parameters.
19722 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
19725 @item exit-function
19726 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
19728 @item temp-directory
19729 Where the temporary files should be stored.
19732 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
19733 performed for one group only.
19736 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
19737 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
19738 find the article number assigned to this article.
19740 The function also uses the following variables:
19741 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
19742 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
19743 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
19744 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
19748 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
19749 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
19753 @node Score File Syntax
19754 @subsection Score File Syntax
19756 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
19757 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
19758 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
19760 Here's a typical score file:
19764 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
19771 BNF definition of a score file:
19774 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
19775 element = rule / atom
19776 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
19777 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
19778 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
19779 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
19781 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
19782 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
19783 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
19784 date-header = "date"
19785 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19786 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19787 score = "nil" / <integer>
19788 date = "nil" / <natural number>
19789 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
19790 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
19791 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
19792 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
19793 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19794 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19795 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
19796 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19797 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
19798 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
19799 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
19800 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
19801 exclude-files / read-only / touched
19802 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
19803 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
19804 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
19805 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
19806 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
19807 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
19808 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
19809 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
19810 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
19811 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
19812 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
19813 eval = "eval" space <form>
19814 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
19817 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
19820 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
19821 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
19822 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
19823 one looong line, then that's ok.
19825 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
19826 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
19830 @subsection Headers
19832 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
19833 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
19834 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
19835 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
19837 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
19838 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
19839 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
19840 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
19841 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
19842 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
19843 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
19845 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
19846 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
19847 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
19848 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
19849 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
19851 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
19852 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
19858 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
19859 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
19861 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
19862 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
19863 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
19864 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
19866 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
19870 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
19873 is transformed into
19876 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
19879 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
19880 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
19883 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
19886 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
19887 is slightly tricky:
19890 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
19896 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
19899 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
19905 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
19912 and is equal to the previous range.
19914 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
19915 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
19916 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
19920 range = simple-range / normal-range
19921 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
19922 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
19923 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
19924 number *[ " " contents ]
19927 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
19928 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
19929 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
19930 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
19931 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
19936 @subsection Group Info
19938 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
19939 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
19940 describes the group.
19942 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
19943 second is a more complex one:
19946 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
19948 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
19949 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
19951 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
19954 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
19955 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
19956 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
19957 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
19958 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
19959 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
19960 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
19961 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
19962 this section is about.
19964 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
19965 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
19966 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
19968 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
19971 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
19972 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
19973 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19974 group = quote <string> quote
19975 ralevel = rank / level
19976 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
19977 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
19978 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
19980 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
19981 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
19982 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
19983 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
19986 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
19987 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
19990 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
19991 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
19994 @item gnus-info-group
19995 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
19996 @findex gnus-info-group
19997 @findex gnus-info-set-group
19998 Get/set the group name.
20000 @item gnus-info-rank
20001 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
20002 @findex gnus-info-rank
20003 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
20004 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
20006 @item gnus-info-level
20007 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
20008 @findex gnus-info-level
20009 @findex gnus-info-set-level
20010 Get/set the group level.
20012 @item gnus-info-score
20013 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
20014 @findex gnus-info-score
20015 @findex gnus-info-set-score
20016 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
20018 @item gnus-info-read
20019 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
20020 @findex gnus-info-read
20021 @findex gnus-info-set-read
20022 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
20024 @item gnus-info-marks
20025 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
20026 @findex gnus-info-marks
20027 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
20028 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
20030 @item gnus-info-method
20031 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
20032 @findex gnus-info-method
20033 @findex gnus-info-set-method
20034 Get/set the group select method.
20036 @item gnus-info-params
20037 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
20038 @findex gnus-info-params
20039 @findex gnus-info-set-params
20040 Get/set the group parameters.
20043 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
20044 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
20046 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
20047 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
20048 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
20049 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
20052 @node Extended Interactive
20053 @subsection Extended Interactive
20054 @cindex interactive
20055 @findex gnus-interactive
20057 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
20058 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
20059 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
20062 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
20063 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
20068 The best thing to do would have been to implement
20069 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
20070 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
20071 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
20072 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
20073 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
20074 @code{interactive}.
20076 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
20081 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
20082 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
20086 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
20087 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
20088 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
20091 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
20095 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
20099 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
20105 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
20106 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
20110 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
20111 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
20112 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
20114 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
20115 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
20116 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
20117 Gnus, that's very useful.
20119 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
20120 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
20121 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
20122 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
20123 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
20124 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
20125 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
20126 following function:
20129 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
20133 (,function ,@@args))
20137 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
20138 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
20139 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
20142 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
20143 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
20144 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
20146 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
20147 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
20148 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
20151 @node Various File Formats
20152 @subsection Various File Formats
20155 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
20156 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
20160 @node Active File Format
20161 @subsubsection Active File Format
20163 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
20164 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
20167 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
20170 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
20171 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
20172 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
20173 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
20174 no.general 1000 900 y
20177 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
20180 active = *group-line
20181 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
20182 group = <non-white-space string>
20184 high-number = <non-negative integer>
20185 low-number = <positive integer>
20186 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
20189 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
20190 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
20193 @node Newsgroups File Format
20194 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
20196 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
20197 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
20198 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
20201 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
20202 Here's the definition:
20206 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
20207 group = <non-white-space string>
20209 description = <string>
20214 @node Emacs for Heathens
20215 @section Emacs for Heathens
20217 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
20218 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
20219 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
20220 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
20221 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
20222 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
20223 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
20227 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
20228 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
20233 @subsection Keystrokes
20237 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
20240 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
20243 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
20244 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
20245 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
20246 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
20247 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
20248 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
20250 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
20251 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
20252 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
20253 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
20254 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
20255 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
20256 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
20258 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
20259 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
20260 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
20261 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
20262 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
20263 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
20264 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
20266 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
20267 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
20268 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
20269 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
20270 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
20276 @subsection Emacs Lisp
20278 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
20279 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
20280 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
20281 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
20283 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
20284 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
20285 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
20286 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
20287 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
20288 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
20289 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
20292 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
20293 write the following:
20296 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
20299 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
20300 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
20301 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
20304 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
20305 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
20306 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
20307 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
20308 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
20310 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
20311 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
20312 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
20316 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
20320 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
20323 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
20324 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
20327 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
20330 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
20331 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
20334 @include gnus-faq.texi