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4 @settitle Pterodactyl Gnus 0.76 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{} 1995,96,97,98,99 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) 1995,96,97,98,99 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 0.76 Manual
323 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
326 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
327 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 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 0.76.
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 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
485 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
486 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
487 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
488 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
489 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
490 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
491 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
494 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
496 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
497 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
498 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
499 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
500 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
501 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
503 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
505 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
506 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
507 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
508 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
509 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
510 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
513 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
514 would typically set this variable to
517 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
522 @section The First Time
523 @cindex first time usage
525 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
526 be subscribed by default.
528 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
529 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
530 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
531 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
534 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
535 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
536 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
538 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
539 help you with most common problems.
541 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
542 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
546 @node The Server is Down
547 @section The Server is Down
548 @cindex server errors
550 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
551 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
552 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
554 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
555 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
556 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
557 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
558 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
559 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
560 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
562 @findex gnus-no-server
563 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
565 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
566 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
567 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
568 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
569 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
570 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
575 @section Slave Gnusae
578 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
579 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
580 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
581 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
583 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
586 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
587 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
588 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
589 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
590 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
591 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
592 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
594 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
595 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
596 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
597 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
598 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
599 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
600 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
601 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
603 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
604 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
607 @node Fetching a Group
608 @section Fetching a Group
609 @cindex fetching a group
611 @findex gnus-fetch-group
612 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
613 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
614 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
615 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
616 It takes the group name as a parameter.
624 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
625 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
626 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
627 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
628 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
629 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
630 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
631 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the backends for new groups even
632 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
635 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
636 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
637 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
641 @node Checking New Groups
642 @subsection Checking New Groups
644 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
645 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
646 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
647 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
648 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
649 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
650 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
651 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
652 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
653 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
655 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
656 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
657 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
658 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
659 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
660 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
661 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
662 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
663 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
664 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
665 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
667 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
668 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
669 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
670 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
671 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
672 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
675 @node Subscription Methods
676 @subsection Subscription Methods
678 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
679 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
680 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
682 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
683 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
685 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
689 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
690 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
691 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
692 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
693 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
695 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
696 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
697 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
698 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
700 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
701 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
702 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
704 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
705 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
706 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
707 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
708 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
709 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into it's
710 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
711 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
712 up. Or something like that.
714 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
715 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
716 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
717 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
718 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
720 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
721 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
726 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
727 A closely related variable is
728 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
729 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
730 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
731 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
734 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
735 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
736 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
737 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
740 @node Filtering New Groups
741 @subsection Filtering New Groups
743 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
744 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
745 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
748 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
751 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
752 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
753 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
754 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
755 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
756 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
757 subscribing these groups.
758 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
759 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
761 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
762 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
763 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
764 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
765 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
766 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
767 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
768 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
770 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
771 Yet another variable that meddles here is
772 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
773 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
774 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
775 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
776 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
777 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
778 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
779 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
781 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
782 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
785 @node Changing Servers
786 @section Changing Servers
787 @cindex changing servers
789 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
790 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
791 very flaky and you want to use another.
793 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
794 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
798 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
799 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
800 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
801 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
804 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
805 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
806 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
807 functions more than absolutely necessary.
809 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
810 @findex gnus-change-server
811 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
812 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
813 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
814 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
815 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
817 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
818 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
819 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
820 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
821 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
823 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
824 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
825 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
826 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
827 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
828 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
830 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
831 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
832 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
836 @section Startup Files
837 @cindex startup files
842 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
843 information is traditionally stored in this file.
845 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
846 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
847 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
848 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
849 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
850 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
851 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
853 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
854 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
855 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
856 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
857 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
858 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
860 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
861 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
862 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
863 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
864 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
865 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
867 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
868 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
869 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
870 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
871 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
872 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
873 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
874 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
875 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
876 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
877 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
878 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
880 @vindex gnus-startup-file
881 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
882 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
883 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
885 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
886 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
887 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
888 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
889 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
890 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
891 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
892 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
893 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
894 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
897 (defun turn-off-backup ()
898 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
900 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
901 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
904 @vindex gnus-init-file
905 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
906 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
907 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
908 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
909 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
910 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
911 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
912 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
913 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
922 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
923 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
924 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
925 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
926 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
929 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
930 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
933 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
934 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
935 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
937 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
938 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
939 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
940 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
941 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
942 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
944 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
945 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
946 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
949 @node The Active File
950 @section The Active File
952 @cindex ignored groups
954 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
955 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
956 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
958 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
959 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
960 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
961 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
962 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
963 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
964 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
967 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
968 @c if you set it to anything else.
970 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
972 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
973 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
974 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
976 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
977 you actually subscribe to.
979 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
980 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
981 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
982 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
984 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
985 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
986 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
987 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
988 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
989 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
991 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
992 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
993 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
994 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
995 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
996 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
998 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
999 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1001 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1002 secondary select methods.
1005 @node Startup Variables
1006 @section Startup Variables
1010 @item gnus-load-hook
1011 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1012 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1013 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1014 times you start Gnus.
1016 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1017 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1018 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1020 @item gnus-startup-hook
1021 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1022 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1024 @item gnus-started-hook
1025 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1026 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1029 @item gnus-started-hook
1030 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1031 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1032 generating the group buffer.
1034 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1035 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1036 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1037 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1038 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1039 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1040 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1041 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1043 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1044 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1045 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1046 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1047 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1048 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1050 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1051 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1052 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1054 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1055 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1056 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1058 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1059 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1060 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1061 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1066 @node The Group Buffer
1067 @chapter The Group Buffer
1068 @cindex group buffer
1070 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1071 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1072 long as Gnus is active.
1076 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1077 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1078 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1079 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1080 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1081 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1082 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1083 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1089 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1090 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1091 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1092 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1093 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1094 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1095 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1096 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1097 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1098 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1099 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1100 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1101 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1102 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1103 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1104 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1105 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1109 @node Group Buffer Format
1110 @section Group Buffer Format
1113 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1114 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1115 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1119 @node Group Line Specification
1120 @subsection Group Line Specification
1121 @cindex group buffer format
1123 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1124 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1126 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1129 25: news.announce.newusers
1130 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1135 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1136 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1137 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1138 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1140 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1141 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1142 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1143 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1144 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1145 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1147 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1149 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1150 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1151 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1152 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1155 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1156 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1157 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1159 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1164 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1167 Whether the group is subscribed.
1170 Level of subscribedness.
1173 Number of unread articles.
1176 Number of dormant articles.
1179 Number of ticked articles.
1182 Number of read articles.
1185 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1186 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1189 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1192 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1201 Newsgroup description.
1204 @samp{m} if moderated.
1207 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1216 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1220 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1223 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1224 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1225 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1226 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1227 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.emacs.gnus}.
1230 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1232 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1236 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1240 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1241 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1242 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1243 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1244 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1245 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1250 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1251 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1252 group, or a bogus native group.
1255 @node Group Modeline Specification
1256 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1257 @cindex group modeline
1259 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1260 The mode line can be changed by setting
1261 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1262 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1266 The native news server.
1268 The native select method.
1272 @node Group Highlighting
1273 @subsection Group Highlighting
1274 @cindex highlighting
1275 @cindex group highlighting
1277 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1278 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1279 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1280 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1281 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1283 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1287 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-1
1288 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))))
1289 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-2
1290 '((t (:foreground "SeaGreen" :bold t))))
1291 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-3
1292 '((t (:foreground "SpringGreen" :bold t))))
1293 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-4
1294 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))))
1295 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-5
1296 '((t (:foreground "SkyBlue" :bold t))))
1298 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1299 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1300 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1301 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1302 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1303 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1306 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1308 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1315 The number of unread articles in the group.
1319 Whether the group is a mail group.
1321 The level of the group.
1323 The score of the group.
1325 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1327 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1328 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1330 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1331 topic being inserted.
1334 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1335 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1336 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1338 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1339 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1340 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1341 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1342 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1345 @node Group Maneuvering
1346 @section Group Maneuvering
1347 @cindex group movement
1349 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1350 expected, hopefully.
1356 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1357 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1358 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1364 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1365 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1366 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1370 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1371 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1375 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1376 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1380 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1381 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1382 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1386 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1387 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1388 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1391 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1397 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1398 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1399 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1404 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1405 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1406 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1410 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1411 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1412 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1415 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1416 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1417 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1418 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1422 @node Selecting a Group
1423 @section Selecting a Group
1424 @cindex group selection
1429 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1430 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1431 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1432 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1433 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1434 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1435 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1436 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1437 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1438 negative, Gnus fetches the @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1442 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1443 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1444 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1445 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1446 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1450 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1451 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1452 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1453 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1454 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1455 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1456 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1457 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1458 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1459 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1462 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1463 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1464 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1465 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1466 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1469 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1470 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1471 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1472 doing any processing of its contents
1473 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1474 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1475 manner will have no permanent effects.
1479 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1480 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1481 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1482 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1483 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1484 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1485 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1486 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1489 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1490 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1491 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1492 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1497 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1498 full summary buffer.
1501 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1504 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
1509 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
1510 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
1511 Useful functions include:
1514 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
1515 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
1516 don't select the article.
1518 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
1519 Select the first unread article.
1521 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
1522 Select the highest-scored unread article.
1526 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1527 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1528 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1532 @node Subscription Commands
1533 @section Subscription Commands
1534 @cindex subscription
1542 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1543 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
1544 Toggle subscription to the current group
1545 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1551 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1552 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1553 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1554 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1560 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1561 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
1562 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1568 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1569 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1572 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1573 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1574 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1575 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1576 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1582 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1583 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1587 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1588 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1591 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1592 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1593 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1594 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1595 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1596 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1597 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1598 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1599 @file{.newsrc} file.
1603 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1613 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1614 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1615 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
1616 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1617 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1618 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
1623 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1624 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1625 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1629 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1630 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1631 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1633 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1634 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1635 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1636 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1637 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1638 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1645 @section Group Levels
1649 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1650 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1651 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1652 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1653 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1655 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1661 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1662 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1663 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1664 prompted for a level.
1667 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1668 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1669 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1670 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1671 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
1672 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1673 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1674 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1675 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1676 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
1677 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
1678 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
1679 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
1680 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
1681 reasons of efficiency.
1683 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1684 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1686 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1687 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1688 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1690 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1691 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1692 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1693 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1694 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1695 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1696 relevant valid ranges.
1698 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1699 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1700 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
1701 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1702 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1703 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1706 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1707 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1708 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1711 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1712 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1713 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1714 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1717 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1718 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1719 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1720 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1722 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1723 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
1724 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
1725 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
1726 to 5. The default is 6.
1730 @section Group Score
1735 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1736 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1737 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1740 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1741 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1742 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1743 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1744 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1745 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1746 part and the score is the least significant part.))
1748 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1749 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1750 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1751 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1752 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1753 action after each summary exit, you can add
1754 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1755 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1756 slow things down somewhat.
1759 @node Marking Groups
1760 @section Marking Groups
1761 @cindex marking groups
1763 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1764 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1765 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1766 bidding on those groups.
1768 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1769 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1770 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1778 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1779 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1785 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1786 Remove the mark from the current group
1787 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1791 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1792 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1796 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1797 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1801 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1802 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1806 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1807 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1808 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1811 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1813 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1814 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1815 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1816 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1817 the command to be executed.
1820 @node Foreign Groups
1821 @section Foreign Groups
1822 @cindex foreign groups
1824 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1825 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1826 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1827 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1834 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1835 @cindex making groups
1836 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1837 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1838 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1842 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1843 @cindex renaming groups
1844 Rename the current group to something else
1845 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
1846 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1852 @findex gnus-group-customize
1853 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1857 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1858 @cindex renaming groups
1859 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1860 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1864 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1865 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1866 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1870 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1871 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1872 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1876 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1878 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1879 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1884 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1885 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1889 @cindex (ding) archive
1890 @cindex archive group
1891 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1892 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1893 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1894 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1895 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1896 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1897 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1901 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1903 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1904 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1905 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1906 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1910 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1912 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
1913 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1914 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1918 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1919 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1921 Make a group based on some file or other
1922 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1923 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1924 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1925 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
1926 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, and @code{forward}. If you run
1927 this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file type.
1928 @xref{Document Groups}.
1932 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
1933 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
1934 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
1935 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
1939 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1944 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1945 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1946 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1947 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
1948 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1949 @xref{Web Searches}.
1951 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
1952 to a particular group by using a match string like
1953 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
1956 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1957 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1958 This function will delete the current group
1959 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1960 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1961 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1962 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
1963 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
1967 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1968 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1969 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
1973 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1974 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1975 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1978 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1981 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1982 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1983 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1984 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1985 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
1986 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
1990 @node Group Parameters
1991 @section Group Parameters
1992 @cindex group parameters
1994 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
1995 Here's an example group parameter list:
1998 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2002 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2003 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2004 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2005 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2007 The following group parameters can be used:
2012 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2015 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2018 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2019 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2020 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2021 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2022 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2024 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2025 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2026 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2027 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2028 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2029 list address instead.
2033 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
2036 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2039 It is totally ignored
2040 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2041 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2043 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2044 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2045 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2046 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2047 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2049 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2050 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2051 sending the message.
2055 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2056 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2057 of whether it has any unread articles.
2059 @item broken-reply-to
2060 @cindex broken-reply-to
2061 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2062 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2063 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2064 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2065 broken behavior. So there!
2069 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2070 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2074 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2075 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2076 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2081 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2082 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2083 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2084 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2085 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2086 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2087 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2091 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2092 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2093 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2096 @cindex total-expire
2097 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2098 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2099 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2100 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2105 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2106 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2107 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2108 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2109 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2110 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2113 @cindex score file group parameter
2114 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2115 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2116 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2119 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2120 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2121 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2122 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2125 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2126 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2127 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2128 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2131 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2132 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2136 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2139 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2144 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2145 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2146 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2150 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2151 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2152 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2154 @item @var{(variable form)}
2155 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2156 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2157 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2158 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2159 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2160 @code{eval}ed there.
2162 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2163 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2164 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2165 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2166 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2169 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2170 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2171 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2172 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2173 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2175 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2176 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2177 like this in the group parameters:
2182 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2187 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2188 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2192 @node Listing Groups
2193 @section Listing Groups
2194 @cindex group listing
2196 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2204 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2205 List all groups that have unread articles
2206 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2207 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2208 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2209 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2216 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2217 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2218 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2219 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2220 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2221 unsubscribed groups).
2225 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2226 List all unread groups on a specific level
2227 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2228 with no unread articles.
2232 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2233 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2234 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2235 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2240 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2241 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2245 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2246 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2247 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2251 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2252 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2256 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2257 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2258 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2259 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2260 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2261 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2262 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2263 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2267 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2268 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2269 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2273 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2274 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2275 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2279 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2280 @cindex visible group parameter
2281 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2282 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2283 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2284 get the same effect.
2286 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2287 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2288 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2289 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2290 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2293 @node Sorting Groups
2294 @section Sorting Groups
2295 @cindex sorting groups
2297 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2298 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2299 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2300 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2301 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2302 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2307 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2308 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2309 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2311 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2312 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2313 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2315 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2316 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2317 Sort by group level.
2319 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2320 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2321 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2323 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2324 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2325 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2326 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2328 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2329 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2330 Sort by number of unread articles.
2332 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2333 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2334 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2339 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2340 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2344 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2345 some sorting criteria:
2349 @kindex G S a (Group)
2350 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2351 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2352 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2355 @kindex G S u (Group)
2356 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2357 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2358 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2361 @kindex G S l (Group)
2362 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2363 Sort the group buffer by group level
2364 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2367 @kindex G S v (Group)
2368 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2369 Sort the group buffer by group score
2370 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2373 @kindex G S r (Group)
2374 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2375 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2376 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2379 @kindex G S m (Group)
2380 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2381 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2382 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2386 All the commands below obeys the process/prefix convention
2387 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2389 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2390 commands will sort in reverse order.
2392 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2396 @kindex G P a (Group)
2397 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2398 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2399 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2402 @kindex G P u (Group)
2403 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2404 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2405 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2408 @kindex G P l (Group)
2409 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2410 Sort the groups by group level
2411 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2414 @kindex G P v (Group)
2415 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2416 Sort the groups by group score
2417 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2420 @kindex G P r (Group)
2421 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2422 Sort the groups by group rank
2423 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2426 @kindex G P m (Group)
2427 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2428 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
2429 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2435 @node Group Maintenance
2436 @section Group Maintenance
2437 @cindex bogus groups
2442 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2443 Find bogus groups and delete them
2444 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2448 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2449 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2450 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2451 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2452 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2456 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2457 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2458 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2459 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2462 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2463 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2464 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2465 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2470 @node Browse Foreign Server
2471 @section Browse Foreign Server
2472 @cindex foreign servers
2473 @cindex browsing servers
2478 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2479 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2480 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2481 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2484 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2485 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2486 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2487 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2489 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2494 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2495 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2499 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2500 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2503 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2504 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2505 Enter the current group and display the first article
2506 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2509 @kindex RET (Browse)
2510 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2511 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2515 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2516 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2517 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2523 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2524 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2528 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2529 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2530 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2535 @section Exiting Gnus
2536 @cindex exiting Gnus
2538 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2543 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2544 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2545 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2546 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2550 @findex gnus-group-exit
2551 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
2552 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2556 @findex gnus-group-quit
2557 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2558 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2561 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2562 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2563 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2564 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2565 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2570 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2571 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2572 trying to customize meta-variables.
2577 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2578 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2579 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2585 @section Group Topics
2588 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2589 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2590 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2591 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2592 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2593 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2597 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
2598 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
2609 2: alt.religion.emacs
2612 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2614 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2615 13: comp.sources.unix
2618 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2620 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2621 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2622 is a toggling command.)
2624 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2625 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2626 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2627 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2630 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2631 the hook for the group mode:
2634 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2638 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2639 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2640 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2641 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2642 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2646 @node Topic Variables
2647 @subsection Topic Variables
2648 @cindex topic variables
2650 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2651 really neat, I think.
2653 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2654 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2655 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2668 Number of groups in the topic.
2670 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2672 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2675 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2676 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2677 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2680 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2681 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2683 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2684 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2685 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2688 @node Topic Commands
2689 @subsection Topic Commands
2690 @cindex topic commands
2692 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2693 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2694 definitions slightly.
2700 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2701 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2702 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2706 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2707 Move the current group to some other topic
2708 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2709 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2713 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2714 Copy the current group to some other topic
2715 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2716 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2720 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2721 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2722 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
2723 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
2724 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
2725 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
2726 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
2729 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2730 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2734 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2735 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2736 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2740 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2741 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2742 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2746 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
2747 Toggle hiding empty topics
2748 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
2752 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2753 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2754 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2757 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2758 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2759 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2760 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2764 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2766 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2767 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2768 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2769 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2772 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
2773 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
2774 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2775 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
2779 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2781 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2782 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2783 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2784 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2785 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2786 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2789 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
2790 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
2791 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the expiry
2792 process (if any) (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}).
2796 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2797 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2798 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2802 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2803 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2804 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2809 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2810 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2813 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2814 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2815 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2819 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2820 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2821 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2825 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2826 @cindex group parameters
2827 @cindex topic parameters
2829 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2830 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2836 @subsection Topic Sorting
2837 @cindex topic sorting
2839 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2845 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2846 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2847 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2848 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2851 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2852 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2853 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2854 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2857 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2858 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2859 Sort the current topic by group level
2860 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2863 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2864 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2865 Sort the current topic by group score
2866 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2869 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2870 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2871 Sort the current topic by group rank
2872 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2875 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2876 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2877 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2878 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2882 @xref{Sorting Groups} for more information about group sorting.
2885 @node Topic Topology
2886 @subsection Topic Topology
2887 @cindex topic topology
2890 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2896 2: alt.religion.emacs
2899 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2901 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2902 13: comp.sources.unix
2905 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2906 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2907 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2912 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2913 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2917 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2918 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2919 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2920 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2921 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2922 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2924 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2925 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2926 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2929 @node Topic Parameters
2930 @subsection Topic Parameters
2931 @cindex topic parameters
2933 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2934 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
2935 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2937 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2938 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2939 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2940 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2946 2: alt.religion.emacs
2950 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2952 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2953 13: comp.sources.unix
2957 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
2958 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
2959 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
2960 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
2961 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
2962 . "religion.SCORE")}.
2964 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
2965 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
2966 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
2967 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
2968 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
2970 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
2971 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
2972 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
2973 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
2974 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
2975 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
2976 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
2977 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
2980 @node Misc Group Stuff
2981 @section Misc Group Stuff
2984 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2985 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
2986 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
2987 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
2994 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
2995 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
2996 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
3000 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3001 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3002 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3006 @findex gnus-group-mail
3007 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3011 Variables for the group buffer:
3015 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3016 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3017 is called after the group buffer has been
3020 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3021 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3022 is called after the group buffer is
3023 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3026 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3027 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3028 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3029 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3031 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3032 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3033 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3034 whether they are empty or not.
3039 @node Scanning New Messages
3040 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3041 @cindex new messages
3042 @cindex scanning new news
3048 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3049 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3050 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3051 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3052 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3053 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3058 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3059 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3060 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3061 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3062 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3063 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3064 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3066 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3067 @cindex activating groups
3069 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3070 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3075 @findex gnus-group-restart
3076 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3077 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3078 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
3082 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3083 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3085 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3086 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3090 @node Group Information
3091 @subsection Group Information
3092 @cindex group information
3093 @cindex information on groups
3100 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3101 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3104 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3105 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3106 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3107 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3108 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3109 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3110 for fetching the file.
3112 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3113 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3117 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3119 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3120 @cindex describing groups
3121 @cindex group description
3122 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3123 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3124 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3128 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3129 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3130 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3137 @findex gnus-version
3138 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3142 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3143 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3146 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3149 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3150 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3154 @node Group Timestamp
3155 @subsection Group Timestamp
3157 @cindex group timestamps
3159 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
3160 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3161 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3164 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3167 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3169 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3170 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3173 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3174 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3177 This will result in lines looking like:
3180 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3181 0: custom 19961002T012713
3184 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3185 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3189 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3190 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3195 @subsection File Commands
3196 @cindex file commands
3202 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3203 @vindex gnus-init-file
3204 @cindex reading init file
3205 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3206 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3210 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3211 @cindex saving .newsrc
3212 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3213 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3214 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3217 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3218 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3219 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3224 @node The Summary Buffer
3225 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3226 @cindex summary buffer
3228 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3229 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3231 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3232 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3234 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3237 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3238 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3239 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3240 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3241 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3242 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
3243 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3244 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3245 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3246 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3247 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3248 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3249 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3250 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3251 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3252 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3253 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3254 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3255 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
3256 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3257 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3258 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3259 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3260 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3261 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3262 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3263 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3264 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3265 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3269 @node Summary Buffer Format
3270 @section Summary Buffer Format
3271 @cindex summary buffer format
3275 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3276 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3277 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3283 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3284 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3285 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3286 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3289 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3290 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3291 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3292 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3293 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3294 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3295 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3296 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3297 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3298 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3299 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
3302 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3303 'mail-extract-address-components)
3306 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3307 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3308 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3309 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3312 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3313 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3315 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3316 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3317 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3318 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3319 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3321 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3323 The following format specification characters are understood:
3331 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3332 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3333 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3335 Full @code{From} header.
3337 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3339 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3340 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3342 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3343 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3344 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3345 may be more thorough.
3347 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3350 Number of lines in the article.
3352 Number of characters in the article.
3354 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3356 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3357 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3359 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3360 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3362 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3363 for adopted articles.
3365 One space for each thread level.
3367 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3372 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3373 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3377 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3379 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3380 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3381 default level. If the difference between
3382 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3383 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3391 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3393 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3399 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3400 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3402 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3403 article has any children.
3409 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3410 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3411 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3412 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3413 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3414 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3417 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3418 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
3419 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3420 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3421 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3422 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3424 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3425 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3427 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
3430 @node To From Newsgroups
3431 @subsection To From Newsgroups
3435 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
3436 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
3437 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
3438 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
3439 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
3443 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
3444 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
3445 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
3449 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3450 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
3453 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
3454 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
3457 @findex gnus-extra-header
3458 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
3459 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
3460 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
3463 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
3467 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3468 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
3469 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
3470 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
3471 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
3472 headers are used instead.
3476 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
3477 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
3478 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
3479 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
3482 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3483 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
3484 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
3485 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
3487 In summary, you'd typically do something like the following:
3490 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3492 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
3493 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
3494 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
3495 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3499 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
3500 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
3507 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
3508 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
3511 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3512 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3514 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3515 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
3516 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
3517 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3519 Here are the elements you can play with:
3525 Unprefixed group name.
3527 Current article number.
3529 Current article score.
3533 Number of unread articles in this group.
3535 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
3538 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3539 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3540 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3541 and no unselected ones.
3543 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3544 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3546 Subject of the current article.
3548 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
3550 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
3552 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3554 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3556 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3558 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3562 @node Summary Highlighting
3563 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3567 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3568 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3569 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3570 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3571 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3573 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3574 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3575 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3576 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3578 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3579 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3580 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
3581 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3583 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3584 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3585 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3586 list where the elements are of the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
3587 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
3588 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
3590 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3591 ((> score default) . bold))
3593 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3594 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
3598 @node Summary Maneuvering
3599 @section Summary Maneuvering
3600 @cindex summary movement
3602 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3603 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3605 None of these commands select articles.
3610 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3611 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3612 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3613 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3614 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3618 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3619 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3620 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3621 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3622 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3627 @kindex G j (Summary)
3628 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3629 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
3630 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3633 @kindex G g (Summary)
3634 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3635 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
3636 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3639 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3640 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3641 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3642 to the group buffer.
3644 Variables related to summary movement:
3648 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3649 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3650 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3651 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
3652 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3653 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3654 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
3655 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3656 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
3657 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3658 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3659 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3660 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3661 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3663 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3664 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3665 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3666 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3667 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3668 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
3669 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
3671 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3673 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3674 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3675 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3676 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3677 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3679 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3680 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3681 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3682 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3683 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3684 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3685 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3686 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3689 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
3690 the given number of lines from the top.
3695 @node Choosing Articles
3696 @section Choosing Articles
3697 @cindex selecting articles
3700 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3701 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3705 @node Choosing Commands
3706 @subsection Choosing Commands
3708 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3709 and they all select and display an article.
3713 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3714 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3715 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3716 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3721 @kindex G n (Summary)
3722 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3723 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
3724 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3729 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3730 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
3731 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3736 @kindex G N (Summary)
3737 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3738 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3743 @kindex G P (Summary)
3744 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3745 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3748 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3749 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3750 Go to the next article with the same subject
3751 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3754 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3755 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3756 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3757 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3761 @kindex G f (Summary)
3763 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3764 Go to the first unread article
3765 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3769 @kindex G b (Summary)
3771 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3772 Go to the article with the highest score
3773 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3778 @kindex G l (Summary)
3779 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3780 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3783 @kindex G o (Summary)
3784 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3786 @cindex article history
3787 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3788 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3789 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3790 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
3791 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
3792 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
3796 @node Choosing Variables
3797 @subsection Choosing Variables
3799 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3802 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3803 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3804 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3805 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3806 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3807 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3809 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3810 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3811 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3812 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3814 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3815 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3816 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3817 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3818 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3819 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3820 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3821 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3822 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3823 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3824 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3825 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3826 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3827 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3832 @node Paging the Article
3833 @section Scrolling the Article
3834 @cindex article scrolling
3839 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3840 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3841 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3842 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3843 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3846 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3847 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3848 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3851 @kindex RET (Summary)
3852 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3853 Scroll the current article one line forward
3854 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3857 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
3858 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
3859 Scroll the current article one line backward
3860 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
3864 @kindex A g (Summary)
3866 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3867 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3868 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3869 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3870 the way it came from the server.
3875 @kindex A < (Summary)
3876 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3877 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3878 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3883 @kindex A > (Summary)
3884 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3885 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3889 @kindex A s (Summary)
3891 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3892 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3893 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3897 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
3898 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
3903 @node Reply Followup and Post
3904 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3907 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3908 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3912 @node Summary Mail Commands
3913 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3915 @cindex composing mail
3917 Commands for composing a mail message:
3923 @kindex S r (Summary)
3925 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3926 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
3927 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
3928 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3929 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3934 @kindex S R (Summary)
3935 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3936 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
3937 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3938 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3939 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3942 @kindex S w (Summary)
3943 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
3944 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
3945 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
3946 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
3947 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
3950 @kindex S W (Summary)
3951 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
3952 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
3953 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
3954 the process/prefix convention.
3957 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3958 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3959 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
3960 Forward the current article to some other person
3961 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3962 headers of the forwarded article.
3967 @kindex S m (Summary)
3968 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3969 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
3970 Send a mail to some other person
3971 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3974 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3975 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3976 @cindex bouncing mail
3977 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3978 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3979 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3980 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3981 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3982 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
3983 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3984 very well fail, though.
3987 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3988 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3989 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3990 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3991 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3992 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3993 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3994 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3995 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3996 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
3998 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3999 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4000 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4001 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4002 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4004 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4005 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4008 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4009 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4010 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4011 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4012 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4015 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4016 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4017 @cindex crossposting
4018 @cindex excessive crossposting
4019 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4020 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4022 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4023 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4024 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4025 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4026 command understands the process/prefix convention
4027 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4031 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4034 @node Summary Post Commands
4035 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4037 @cindex composing news
4039 Commands for posting a news article:
4045 @kindex S p (Summary)
4046 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4047 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4048 Post an article to the current group
4049 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4054 @kindex S f (Summary)
4055 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4056 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4057 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4061 @kindex S F (Summary)
4063 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4064 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4065 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4066 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4067 process/prefix convention.
4070 @kindex S n (Summary)
4071 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4072 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4073 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4076 @kindex S N (Summary)
4077 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4078 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4079 message through mail and include the original message
4080 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4081 the process/prefix convention.
4084 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4085 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4086 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4087 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4088 headers of the forwarded article.
4091 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4092 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4094 @cindex making digests
4095 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4096 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4097 process/prefix convention.
4100 @kindex S u (Summary)
4101 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4102 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4103 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4104 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4107 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4110 @node Canceling and Superseding
4111 @section Canceling Articles
4112 @cindex canceling articles
4113 @cindex superseding articles
4115 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4116 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4118 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4120 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4122 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4123 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4124 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4125 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4126 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4127 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4129 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4130 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4133 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4134 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4135 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4137 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4138 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4139 your original article.
4141 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4143 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4144 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4145 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4148 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4149 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4150 have posted almost the same article twice.
4152 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4153 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4154 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4155 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4156 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4157 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4158 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4159 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4160 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4161 canceled/superseded.
4163 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4166 @node Marking Articles
4167 @section Marking Articles
4168 @cindex article marking
4169 @cindex article ticking
4172 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4174 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4175 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4176 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4178 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4181 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4182 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4183 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4187 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4191 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4192 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4196 @node Unread Articles
4197 @subsection Unread Articles
4199 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4204 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4205 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4207 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4208 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4209 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4210 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4211 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4215 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4216 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4218 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4219 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4220 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4223 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4224 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4226 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4231 @subsection Read Articles
4232 @cindex expirable mark
4234 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4239 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4240 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4241 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4244 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4245 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4248 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4249 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4250 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4253 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4254 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4257 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4258 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4261 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4262 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4265 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4266 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4269 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4270 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4273 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4274 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4277 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4278 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4282 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4283 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4284 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4288 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4289 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4291 One more special mark, though:
4295 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4296 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4298 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4299 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4300 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4301 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
4307 @subsection Other Marks
4308 @cindex process mark
4311 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4317 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4318 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4319 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4320 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4321 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
4324 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4325 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4326 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4327 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4330 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4331 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4332 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4335 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4336 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4337 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4338 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4341 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4342 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4343 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4344 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4345 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4348 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4349 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4350 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4351 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4352 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4353 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4357 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4358 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4359 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4361 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4362 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4363 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4367 @subsection Setting Marks
4368 @cindex setting marks
4370 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4375 @kindex M c (Summary)
4376 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4377 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4378 @cindex mark as unread
4379 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4380 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4386 @kindex M t (Summary)
4387 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4388 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4389 @xref{Article Caching}.
4394 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4395 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4396 Mark the current article as dormant
4397 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4401 @kindex M d (Summary)
4403 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4404 Mark the current article as read
4405 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4409 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4410 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4411 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4416 @kindex M k (Summary)
4417 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4418 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4419 and then select the next unread article
4420 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4424 @kindex M K (Summary)
4425 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4426 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4427 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4428 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4431 @kindex M C (Summary)
4432 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4433 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4434 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4437 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4438 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4439 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4440 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4443 @kindex M H (Summary)
4444 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4445 Catchup the current group to point
4446 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4449 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4450 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4451 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4452 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4455 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4456 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4457 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4458 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4462 @kindex M e (Summary)
4464 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4465 Mark the current article as expirable
4466 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4469 @kindex M b (Summary)
4470 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4471 Set a bookmark in the current article
4472 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4475 @kindex M B (Summary)
4476 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4477 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4478 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4481 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4482 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4483 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4484 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4487 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4488 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4489 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4490 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4493 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4494 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4495 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4496 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4497 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4500 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4501 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4502 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4503 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4504 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4505 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4506 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4507 The default is @code{t}.
4510 @node Setting Process Marks
4511 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4512 @cindex setting process marks
4519 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4520 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4521 Mark the current article with the process mark
4522 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4523 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4527 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4528 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4529 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4530 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4533 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4534 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4535 Remove the process mark from all articles
4536 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4539 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4540 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4541 Invert the list of process marked articles
4542 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4545 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4546 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4547 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
4548 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4551 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4552 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4553 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4556 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4557 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4558 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4559 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4562 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4563 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4564 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4565 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4568 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4569 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4570 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4571 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4574 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4575 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4576 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4579 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4580 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4581 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4582 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4585 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4586 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4587 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4590 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4591 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4592 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4593 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4596 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4597 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4598 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4599 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4602 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4603 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4604 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4605 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4608 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4609 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4610 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4611 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4620 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4621 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4622 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4625 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
4626 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
4627 additional articles.
4633 @kindex / / (Summary)
4634 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4635 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4636 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4639 @kindex / a (Summary)
4640 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4641 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4642 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4646 @kindex / u (Summary)
4648 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4649 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
4650 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4651 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4652 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4655 @kindex / m (Summary)
4656 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4657 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
4658 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4661 @kindex / t (Summary)
4662 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4663 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
4664 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4665 articles younger than that number of days.
4668 @kindex / n (Summary)
4669 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4670 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4671 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4672 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4675 @kindex / w (Summary)
4676 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4677 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4678 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4682 @kindex / v (Summary)
4683 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4684 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4685 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4689 @kindex M S (Summary)
4690 @kindex / E (Summary)
4691 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4692 Include all expunged articles in the limit
4693 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4696 @kindex / D (Summary)
4697 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4698 Include all dormant articles in the limit
4699 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4702 @kindex / * (Summary)
4703 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
4704 Include all cached articles in the limit
4705 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
4708 @kindex / d (Summary)
4709 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4710 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
4711 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4714 @kindex / T (Summary)
4715 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
4716 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
4719 @kindex / c (Summary)
4720 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4721 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
4722 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4725 @kindex / C (Summary)
4726 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4727 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4728 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4729 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4737 @cindex article threading
4739 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4740 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4741 hierarchical fashion.
4743 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
4744 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
4745 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
4746 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
4747 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
4748 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
4749 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
4751 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
4755 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
4758 A tree-like article structure.
4761 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
4764 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
4765 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
4766 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
4767 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
4768 called loose threads.
4770 @item thread gathering
4771 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
4773 @item sparse threads
4774 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
4775 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
4781 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4782 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4786 @node Customizing Threading
4787 @subsection Customizing Threading
4788 @cindex customizing threading
4791 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
4792 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
4793 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
4794 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
4799 @subsubsection Loose Threads
4802 @cindex loose threads
4805 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4806 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4807 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4808 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4809 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4810 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4812 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
4813 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
4814 There are four possible values:
4818 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
4819 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
4820 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4821 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4822 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4827 @cindex adopting articles
4832 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4833 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4834 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4835 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4838 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4839 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4840 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4841 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4842 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4843 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4844 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4847 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4848 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4849 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4853 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4854 display them after one another.
4857 Don't gather loose threads.
4860 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4861 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4862 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4863 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
4864 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4865 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4866 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
4867 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4868 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4869 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
4870 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4872 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4873 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
4874 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
4877 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4878 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4879 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4880 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4881 simplification is used.
4883 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4884 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4885 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4886 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4888 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4890 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4896 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4897 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4898 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4899 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4904 (mapconcat 'identity
4905 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4907 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4910 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4913 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4914 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4915 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
4916 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
4917 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
4918 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
4920 Useful functions to put in this list include:
4923 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
4924 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
4925 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
4927 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4928 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4931 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
4932 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
4933 Remove excessive whitespace.
4936 You may also write your own functions, of course.
4939 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4940 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4941 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
4942 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
4943 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
4944 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
4945 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
4946 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
4948 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4949 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4950 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
4951 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
4952 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
4953 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
4954 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
4955 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
4956 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
4960 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4961 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4962 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
4963 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
4965 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4966 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4967 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
4970 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
4974 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4975 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
4981 @node Filling In Threads
4982 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
4985 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
4986 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
4987 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
4988 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
4989 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
4990 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
4991 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
4992 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
4993 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
4994 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
4995 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
4996 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
4998 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
4999 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5000 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5002 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5003 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5004 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5005 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5006 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5007 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5008 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
5009 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5010 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
5011 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
5012 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5013 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
5014 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5015 @code{nil} by default.
5020 @node More Threading
5021 @subsubsection More Threading
5024 @item gnus-show-threads
5025 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5026 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5027 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5028 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5029 slower and more awkward.
5031 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5032 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5033 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5036 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5037 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5038 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5039 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5040 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5041 threads are expunged.
5043 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5044 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5045 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5048 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5049 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5050 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5051 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5052 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5055 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5056 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5057 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5063 @node Low-Level Threading
5064 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5068 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5069 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5070 Hook run before parsing any headers.
5072 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5073 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5074 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5075 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5076 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5077 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5078 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5079 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5080 meaningful. Here's one example:
5083 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5085 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5086 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5088 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5090 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5097 @node Thread Commands
5098 @subsection Thread Commands
5099 @cindex thread commands
5105 @kindex T k (Summary)
5106 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5107 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5108 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5109 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5110 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5115 @kindex T l (Summary)
5116 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5117 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5118 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5119 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5122 @kindex T i (Summary)
5123 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5124 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5125 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5128 @kindex T # (Summary)
5129 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5130 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5131 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5134 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5135 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5136 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5137 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5140 @kindex T T (Summary)
5141 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5142 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5145 @kindex T s (Summary)
5146 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5147 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5148 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5151 @kindex T h (Summary)
5152 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5153 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5156 @kindex T S (Summary)
5157 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5158 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5161 @kindex T H (Summary)
5162 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5163 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5166 @kindex T t (Summary)
5167 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5168 Re-thread the current article's thread
5169 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5170 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5173 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5174 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5175 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5176 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5180 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5181 understand the numeric prefix.
5186 @kindex T n (Summary)
5187 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5188 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5191 @kindex T p (Summary)
5192 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5193 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5196 @kindex T d (Summary)
5197 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5198 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5201 @kindex T u (Summary)
5202 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5203 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5206 @kindex T o (Summary)
5207 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5208 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5211 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5212 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5213 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5214 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5215 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5216 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5217 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5218 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5219 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5220 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5221 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5222 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5229 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5230 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5231 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5232 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5233 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5234 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5235 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5236 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5237 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
5238 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
5239 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
5241 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5242 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5243 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5244 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5245 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5247 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5248 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5249 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
5251 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
5252 last function in the list. You should probably always include
5253 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5254 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5255 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5256 ascending article order.
5258 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
5259 by number, you could do something like:
5262 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5263 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5264 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5265 (reverse gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
5268 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5269 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5270 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5271 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5272 which the articles arrived.
5274 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5278 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5280 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5281 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5284 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5285 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5286 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5287 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5290 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5291 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5292 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5293 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5294 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5295 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5296 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5297 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5298 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5299 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5300 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5301 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5302 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5304 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5308 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5309 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5310 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5315 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5316 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5317 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5318 @cindex article pre-fetch
5321 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5322 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5323 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5324 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5325 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5327 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5328 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
5330 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5331 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5332 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5333 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5334 connection is blocked.
5336 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5337 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5338 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5339 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
5341 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5342 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5343 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5344 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5347 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5350 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5351 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5352 happen automatically.
5354 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5355 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5356 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5357 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5358 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5359 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5360 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5362 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5363 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5364 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5365 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5366 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5367 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5368 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5369 data structure as the only parameter.
5371 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5374 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5375 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5376 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5377 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
5380 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
5383 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
5384 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
5385 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
5387 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
5388 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
5389 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
5390 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
5394 Remove articles when they are read.
5397 Remove articles when exiting the group.
5400 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
5402 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
5403 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
5404 @c from the next group.
5407 @node Article Caching
5408 @section Article Caching
5409 @cindex article caching
5412 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
5413 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
5414 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
5415 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
5416 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
5418 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
5420 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5421 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
5422 @vindex gnus-use-cache
5423 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
5424 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
5425 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
5426 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
5427 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
5429 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
5430 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
5431 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
5432 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
5433 as dormant, and don't worry.
5435 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
5437 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
5438 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
5439 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
5440 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
5441 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
5442 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
5443 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
5444 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
5445 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
5446 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
5448 @findex gnus-jog-cache
5449 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
5450 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
5451 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
5452 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
5453 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
5454 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
5455 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
5456 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
5457 not then be downloaded by this command.
5459 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
5460 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
5461 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
5462 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
5463 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
5464 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
5466 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
5467 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
5468 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
5469 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
5470 variables, the group is not cached.
5472 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
5473 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
5474 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
5475 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
5476 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
5477 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
5478 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
5479 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
5480 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
5484 @node Persistent Articles
5485 @section Persistent Articles
5486 @cindex persistent articles
5488 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
5489 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
5490 useful in my opinion.
5492 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
5493 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
5494 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
5495 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
5496 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
5497 the expiry going on at the news server.
5499 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
5500 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
5501 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
5507 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
5508 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
5511 @kindex M-* (Summary)
5512 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
5513 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
5514 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
5518 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
5520 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
5521 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
5522 interested in persistent articles:
5525 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
5529 @node Article Backlog
5530 @section Article Backlog
5532 @cindex article backlog
5534 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
5535 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
5536 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
5537 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5538 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5539 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5540 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
5541 increase memory usage some.
5543 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5544 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
5545 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5546 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
5547 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5548 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5549 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5551 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5554 @node Saving Articles
5555 @section Saving Articles
5556 @cindex saving articles
5558 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5559 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5560 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5561 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5562 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5564 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5565 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
5566 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5568 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5569 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5570 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5571 deleted before saving.
5577 @kindex O o (Summary)
5579 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5580 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
5581 Save the current article using the default article saver
5582 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5585 @kindex O m (Summary)
5586 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5587 Save the current article in mail format
5588 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5591 @kindex O r (Summary)
5592 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5593 Save the current article in rmail format
5594 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5597 @kindex O f (Summary)
5598 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5599 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
5600 Save the current article in plain file format
5601 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5604 @kindex O F (Summary)
5605 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5606 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5607 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5610 @kindex O b (Summary)
5611 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5612 Save the current article body in plain file format
5613 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5616 @kindex O h (Summary)
5617 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5618 Save the current article in mh folder format
5619 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5622 @kindex O v (Summary)
5623 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5624 Save the current article in a VM folder
5625 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5628 @kindex O p (Summary)
5629 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5630 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5631 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5634 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5635 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5636 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5637 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5638 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5639 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5640 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5641 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5642 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5643 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5644 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5645 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5649 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5650 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5651 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
5652 functions below, or you can create your own.
5656 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5657 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5658 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5659 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5660 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5661 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5662 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5664 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5665 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5666 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5667 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5668 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5669 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5671 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5672 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5673 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5674 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5675 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5676 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5677 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5679 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5680 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5681 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5682 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5683 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5685 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5686 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5687 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5688 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5689 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5692 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5693 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5694 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5695 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5696 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
5698 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5699 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5700 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5701 reader to use this setting.
5704 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5705 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5706 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5707 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5710 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5711 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5712 available functions that generate names:
5716 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5717 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5718 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5720 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5721 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5722 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5724 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5725 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5726 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5728 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5729 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5730 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5733 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5734 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
5735 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
5736 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
5737 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
5741 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5742 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5743 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5744 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5747 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5748 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5749 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5750 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5751 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5752 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5753 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5754 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5755 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5757 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5758 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5759 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5760 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5762 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5763 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5764 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
5767 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
5768 lots of mail groups called things like
5769 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
5770 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
5771 following will do just that:
5774 (defun my-save-name (group)
5775 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
5776 (substring group (match-end 0))))
5778 (setq gnus-split-methods
5779 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
5784 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5785 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5786 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5787 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5788 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5789 all the files in the top level directory
5790 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5791 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5792 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5793 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5795 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5796 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5797 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5798 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5799 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5802 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5806 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5807 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5810 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5811 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5812 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5813 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5816 @node Decoding Articles
5817 @section Decoding Articles
5818 @cindex decoding articles
5820 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5821 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5824 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5825 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
5826 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5827 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
5828 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5829 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5833 @cindex article series
5834 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5835 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5836 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5837 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5838 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5840 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5841 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5842 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5844 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
5845 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5846 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5848 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5849 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5850 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5853 @node Uuencoded Articles
5854 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5856 @cindex uuencoded articles
5861 @kindex X u (Summary)
5862 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5863 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
5864 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5867 @kindex X U (Summary)
5868 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5869 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5870 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5873 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5874 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5875 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5878 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5879 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5880 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5881 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5885 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5886 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5887 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5888 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5889 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5891 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
5892 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
5893 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
5894 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
5897 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
5898 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
5899 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
5900 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
5901 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
5902 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
5906 @node Shell Archives
5907 @subsection Shell Archives
5909 @cindex shell archives
5910 @cindex shared articles
5912 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
5913 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
5914 some commands to deal with these:
5919 @kindex X s (Summary)
5920 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
5921 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
5924 @kindex X S (Summary)
5925 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
5926 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
5929 @kindex X v s (Summary)
5930 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
5931 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
5934 @kindex X v S (Summary)
5935 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
5936 Unshars, views and saves the current series
5937 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
5941 @node PostScript Files
5942 @subsection PostScript Files
5948 @kindex X p (Summary)
5949 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
5950 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
5953 @kindex X P (Summary)
5954 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
5955 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
5956 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
5959 @kindex X v p (Summary)
5960 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
5961 View the current PostScript series
5962 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
5965 @kindex X v P (Summary)
5966 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
5967 View and save the current PostScript series
5968 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
5973 @subsection Other Files
5977 @kindex X o (Summary)
5978 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
5979 Save the current series
5980 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
5983 @kindex X b (Summary)
5984 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
5985 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
5986 doesn't really work yet.
5990 @node Decoding Variables
5991 @subsection Decoding Variables
5993 Adjective, not verb.
5996 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
5997 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
5998 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6002 @node Rule Variables
6003 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6004 @cindex rule variables
6006 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6007 variables are of the form
6010 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6017 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6018 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6020 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6021 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6024 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6025 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
6028 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6029 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6030 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6031 user and default view rules.
6033 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6034 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6035 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6040 @node Other Decode Variables
6041 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6044 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6046 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6047 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6048 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6049 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6050 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6054 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6055 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6058 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6059 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6060 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6063 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6064 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6065 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6066 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6067 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6070 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6071 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6072 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6074 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6075 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6076 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6077 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6078 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6081 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6082 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6083 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6085 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6086 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6087 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6088 looking for files to display.
6090 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6091 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6092 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6095 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6096 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6097 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6100 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6101 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6102 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6105 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6106 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6107 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6110 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6111 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6112 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6113 decoded articles as unread.
6115 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6116 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6117 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6118 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6120 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6121 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6122 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6124 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6125 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6127 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6128 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6129 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6130 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6132 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6133 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6134 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6135 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6136 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6137 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
6138 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6139 simply dropped them.
6144 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6145 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6149 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6150 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6151 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6152 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6153 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6154 for you when you post the article.
6156 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6157 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6158 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6159 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6161 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6162 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6163 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6164 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6165 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6166 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6167 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6169 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6170 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6171 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6172 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6173 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6174 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6175 Default is @code{t}.
6181 @subsection Viewing Files
6182 @cindex viewing files
6183 @cindex pseudo-articles
6185 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
6186 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6187 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6188 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
6189 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6190 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6191 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6193 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6194 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6195 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6196 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6198 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6199 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6200 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6202 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6203 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6204 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6205 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6206 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6208 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6209 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6210 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6211 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6212 a list of parameters to that command.
6214 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6215 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6216 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6218 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6219 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6220 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6223 @node Article Treatment
6224 @section Article Treatment
6226 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6227 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6228 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6229 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6230 these articles easier.
6233 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6234 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6235 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6236 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6237 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6238 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6239 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6243 @node Article Highlighting
6244 @subsection Article Highlighting
6245 @cindex highlighting
6247 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6248 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6253 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6254 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6255 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6256 Do much highlighting of the current article
6257 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6258 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6261 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6262 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6263 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6264 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6265 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6266 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
6267 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6268 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6269 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6270 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6271 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6274 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6275 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6276 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6278 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6281 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6283 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6284 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6285 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6287 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6288 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6289 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6291 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6292 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6293 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6295 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6296 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6297 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6298 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6299 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6300 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6302 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6303 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6304 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6306 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6307 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6308 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6310 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6311 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6312 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6313 that it's a citation.
6315 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6316 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6317 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6319 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6320 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6321 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6323 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6324 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6325 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6326 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6332 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6333 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6334 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6335 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6336 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6337 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6338 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6339 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6344 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to highlight articles automatically.
6347 @node Article Fontisizing
6348 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6350 @cindex article emphasis
6352 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6353 @kindex W e (Summary)
6354 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6355 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*}. Gnus can make this look nicer by
6356 running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6357 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6359 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
6360 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6361 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
6362 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6363 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6364 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6365 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6366 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6370 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6371 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6372 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
6375 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
6376 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
6377 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
6378 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
6379 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
6380 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
6381 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
6382 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
6383 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
6384 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
6385 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
6386 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
6387 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
6389 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
6390 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
6391 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
6395 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
6398 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to fontize articles automatically.
6401 @node Article Hiding
6402 @subsection Article Hiding
6403 @cindex article hiding
6405 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
6406 too much cruft in most articles.
6411 @kindex W W a (Summary)
6412 @findex gnus-article-hide
6413 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
6414 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
6415 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
6418 @kindex W W h (Summary)
6419 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
6420 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
6424 @kindex W W b (Summary)
6425 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6426 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
6427 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
6430 @kindex W W s (Summary)
6431 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
6432 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
6436 @kindex W W p (Summary)
6437 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
6438 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6439 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
6440 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
6441 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
6442 articles that have signatures in them do:
6444 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
6446 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
6448 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
6449 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
6451 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6454 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
6459 @kindex W W P (Summary)
6460 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
6461 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
6462 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
6465 @kindex W W B (Summary)
6466 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
6467 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
6468 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
6469 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
6470 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
6471 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
6472 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
6473 which will be interpreted as a regulax expression matching text to be
6474 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
6475 signature should be removed.
6478 @kindex W W c (Summary)
6479 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
6480 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
6481 customizing the hiding:
6485 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6486 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6487 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6488 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6489 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
6490 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
6491 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
6496 Starting point of the hidden text.
6498 Ending point of the hidden text.
6500 Number of characters in the hidden region.
6502 Number of lines of hidden text.
6505 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
6506 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
6507 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
6512 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
6513 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
6515 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
6516 following two variables:
6519 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6520 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6521 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
6522 50), hide the cited text.
6524 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6525 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6526 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
6531 @kindex W W C (Summary)
6532 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
6533 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
6534 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
6535 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
6536 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
6540 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
6541 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
6542 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
6544 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
6545 citation customization.
6547 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to hide article elements
6551 @node Article Washing
6552 @subsection Article Washing
6554 @cindex article washing
6556 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
6557 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
6559 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
6560 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
6566 @kindex W l (Summary)
6567 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
6568 Remove page breaks from the current article
6569 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article} for page
6573 @kindex W r (Summary)
6574 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
6575 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
6576 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
6577 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
6578 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
6579 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
6581 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
6582 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
6583 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
6584 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
6587 @kindex W t (Summary)
6588 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
6589 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
6590 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
6593 @kindex W v (Summary)
6594 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
6595 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
6596 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
6599 @kindex W o (Summary)
6600 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
6601 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
6604 @kindex W d (Summary)
6605 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
6606 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
6608 @cindex M******** sm*rtq**t*s
6610 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s according to
6611 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
6612 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
6613 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
6617 @kindex W w (Summary)
6618 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
6619 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
6621 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
6625 @kindex W q (Summary)
6626 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
6627 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
6630 @kindex W C (Summary)
6631 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentencse
6632 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
6633 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
6636 @kindex W c (Summary)
6637 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
6638 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
6639 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
6640 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
6641 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
6644 @kindex W q (Summary)
6645 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
6646 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
6647 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
6648 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
6649 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
6650 readable to me. Note that the this is usually done automatically by
6651 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
6652 header that says that this encoding has been done.
6655 @kindex W f (Summary)
6657 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
6658 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
6659 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
6660 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
6666 Look for and display any X-Face headers
6667 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
6668 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
6669 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
6670 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
6671 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
6672 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
6673 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
6674 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
6675 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
6676 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
6677 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
6678 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
6679 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6683 @kindex W b (Summary)
6684 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6685 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6686 @xref{Article Buttons}.
6689 @kindex W B (Summary)
6690 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6691 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6692 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6695 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6696 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6697 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6698 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6701 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6702 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6703 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6704 lines with a single empty line.
6705 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6708 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6709 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6710 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6711 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6714 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6715 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6716 Do all the three commands above
6717 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6720 @kindex W E A (Summary)
6721 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
6722 Remove all blank lines
6723 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
6726 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6727 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6728 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6729 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6732 @kindex W E e (Summary)
6733 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
6734 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
6735 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
6739 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to wash articles automatically.
6742 @node Article Buttons
6743 @subsection Article Buttons
6746 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6747 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6748 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
6749 button on these references.
6751 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6752 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6753 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6758 @item gnus-button-alist
6759 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6760 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6763 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6769 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6770 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
6771 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6774 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
6775 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
6776 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6779 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6780 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6781 avoid false matches.
6784 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6787 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6788 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6792 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6795 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6798 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6799 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6800 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6801 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6802 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6805 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6808 @var{HEADER} is a regular expression.
6810 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6811 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6812 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6813 default values of the variables above.
6815 @item gnus-article-button-face
6816 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6817 Face used on buttons.
6819 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
6820 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
6821 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
6825 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to buttonize articles automatically.
6829 @subsection Article Date
6831 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
6832 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
6833 when the article was sent.
6838 @kindex W T u (Summary)
6839 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
6840 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
6841 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
6844 @kindex W T i (Summary)
6845 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
6847 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
6848 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
6851 @kindex W T l (Summary)
6852 @findex gnus-article-date-local
6853 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
6856 @kindex W T s (Summary)
6857 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
6858 @findex gnus-article-date-user
6859 @findex format-time-string
6860 Display the date using a user-defined format
6861 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
6862 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
6863 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
6864 for a list of possible format specs.
6867 @kindex W T e (Summary)
6868 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
6869 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
6870 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
6871 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
6872 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). If you want to have this line
6873 updated continually, you can put
6876 (gnus-start-date-timer)
6879 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
6880 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
6884 @kindex W T o (Summary)
6885 @findex gnus-article-date-original
6886 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
6887 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
6888 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
6889 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
6890 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
6894 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to display the date in your
6895 preferred format automatically.
6898 @node Article Signature
6899 @subsection Article Signature
6901 @cindex article signature
6903 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6904 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
6905 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
6906 that says what is to be considered a signature is
6907 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
6908 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
6909 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
6910 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
6911 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
6914 (setq gnus-signature-separator
6915 '("^-- $" ; The standard
6916 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
6917 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
6918 ; line of dashes. Shame!
6919 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
6920 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
6921 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
6924 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
6927 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
6928 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
6933 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
6936 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
6939 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
6940 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
6942 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
6943 in question is not a signature.
6946 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
6947 listed above. Here's an example:
6950 (setq gnus-signature-limit
6951 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
6954 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
6955 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
6956 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
6957 signature after all.
6961 @section MIME Commands
6962 @cindex MIME decoding
6966 @kindex M-t (Summary)
6967 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
6968 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
6969 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
6972 @kindex W M w (Summary)
6973 Decode RFC2047-encoded words in the article headers
6974 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
6977 @kindex W M c (Summary)
6978 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
6979 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
6981 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
6982 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
6983 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
6984 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
6985 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
6986 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
6989 @kindex W M v (Summary)
6990 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
6991 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
6998 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
6999 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
7000 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7001 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
7004 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
7007 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
7011 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7012 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7013 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7014 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
7015 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
7017 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
7018 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
7019 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
7020 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
7021 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
7022 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
7023 save all jpegs into some directory).
7025 Here's an example function the does the latter:
7028 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
7029 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
7031 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
7032 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
7033 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
7034 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
7035 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
7045 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
7046 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
7047 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
7048 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
7049 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
7050 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
7051 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
7053 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
7054 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
7055 variable, which is an alist of regexps (to match group names) and
7056 default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
7058 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
7059 aren't. These blitely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1} even
7060 if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
7061 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
7062 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be set
7063 on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
7064 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit)}, which is
7065 something some agents insist on having in there.
7068 @node Article Commands
7069 @section Article Commands
7076 @kindex A P (Summary)
7077 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
7078 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
7079 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
7080 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
7081 run just before printing the buffer.
7086 @node Summary Sorting
7087 @section Summary Sorting
7088 @cindex summary sorting
7090 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
7091 can't really see why you'd want that.
7096 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
7097 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
7098 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
7101 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
7102 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
7103 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
7106 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
7107 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
7108 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
7111 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
7112 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
7113 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
7116 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
7117 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
7118 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
7121 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
7122 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
7123 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
7126 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
7127 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
7128 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
7129 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
7130 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
7134 @node Finding the Parent
7135 @section Finding the Parent
7136 @cindex parent articles
7137 @cindex referring articles
7142 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
7143 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
7144 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
7145 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
7146 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
7147 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
7148 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
7149 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
7150 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
7152 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
7153 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
7154 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
7155 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
7156 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
7160 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
7161 @kindex A R (Summary)
7162 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
7163 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
7166 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
7167 @kindex A T (Summary)
7168 Display the full thread where the current article appears
7169 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
7170 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
7171 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
7172 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
7173 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
7174 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
7176 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
7177 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
7178 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
7179 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
7180 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
7181 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
7184 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
7185 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
7187 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
7188 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
7189 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
7190 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
7191 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
7192 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
7193 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
7196 The current select method will be used when fetching by
7197 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
7198 by giving this command a prefix.
7200 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
7201 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
7202 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
7203 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
7204 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
7205 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
7208 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
7209 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
7210 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
7211 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
7212 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
7213 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
7216 @node Alternative Approaches
7217 @section Alternative Approaches
7219 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
7220 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
7223 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
7224 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
7229 @subsection Pick and Read
7230 @cindex pick and read
7232 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
7233 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
7234 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
7235 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
7237 @findex gnus-pick-mode
7238 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
7239 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
7240 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
7241 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
7242 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
7244 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
7249 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
7250 Pick the article or thread on the current line
7251 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7252 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
7253 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
7254 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
7255 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
7256 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
7259 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
7260 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
7261 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
7262 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
7266 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
7267 Unpick the thread or article
7268 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7269 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
7270 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
7271 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
7272 the thread or article at that line.
7276 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
7277 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
7278 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
7279 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
7280 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
7281 will still be visible when you are reading.
7285 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
7286 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
7287 which is mapped to the same function
7288 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
7290 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
7293 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
7296 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
7297 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
7299 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
7300 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
7301 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
7303 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
7304 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
7305 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
7306 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
7307 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
7308 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
7309 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
7313 @subsection Binary Groups
7314 @cindex binary groups
7316 @findex gnus-binary-mode
7317 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
7318 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
7319 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
7320 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
7321 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
7322 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
7325 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
7326 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
7327 command, when you have turned on this mode
7328 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
7330 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
7331 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
7335 @section Tree Display
7338 @vindex gnus-use-trees
7339 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
7340 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
7341 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
7344 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
7347 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
7348 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
7349 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
7351 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7352 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7353 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
7354 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
7355 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
7357 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
7358 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
7359 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
7360 default is @code{modeline}.
7362 @item gnus-tree-line-format
7363 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
7364 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
7365 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
7366 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
7367 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
7368 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
7374 The name of the poster.
7376 The @code{From} header.
7378 The number of the article.
7380 The opening bracket.
7382 The closing bracket.
7387 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7389 Variables related to the display are:
7392 @item gnus-tree-brackets
7393 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
7394 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
7395 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
7396 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
7397 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
7399 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7400 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7401 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
7402 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
7406 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
7407 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
7408 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
7409 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
7410 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
7411 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
7412 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
7413 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
7414 other windows displayed next to it.
7416 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
7417 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
7418 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7419 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
7420 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
7421 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
7422 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
7426 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
7429 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
7439 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
7443 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
7444 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
7446 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
7448 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
7453 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
7454 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
7455 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
7458 (setq gnus-use-trees t
7459 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7460 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
7461 (gnus-add-configuration
7465 (summary 0.75 point)
7470 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
7473 @node Mail Group Commands
7474 @section Mail Group Commands
7475 @cindex mail group commands
7477 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
7478 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
7480 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
7481 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7486 @kindex B e (Summary)
7487 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
7488 Expire all expirable articles in the group
7489 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
7492 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
7493 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
7494 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
7495 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
7496 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
7497 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
7500 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
7501 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
7502 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
7503 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
7504 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
7505 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
7508 @kindex B m (Summary)
7510 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
7511 Move the article from one mail group to another
7512 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7515 @kindex B c (Summary)
7517 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
7518 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
7519 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
7520 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
7523 @kindex B B (Summary)
7524 @cindex crosspost mail
7525 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
7526 Crosspost the current article to some other group
7527 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
7528 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
7529 be properly updated.
7532 @kindex B i (Summary)
7533 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
7534 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
7535 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
7536 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
7539 @kindex B r (Summary)
7540 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
7541 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
7542 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
7543 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
7544 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
7548 @kindex B w (Summary)
7550 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
7551 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
7552 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
7553 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
7554 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
7555 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
7558 @kindex B q (Summary)
7559 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
7560 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
7561 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
7562 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
7565 @kindex B t (Summary)
7566 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
7567 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
7568 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
7571 @kindex B p (Summary)
7572 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
7573 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
7574 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
7575 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
7576 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
7577 article from your news server (or rather, from
7578 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
7579 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
7580 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
7581 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
7582 just not have arrived yet.
7586 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
7587 @cindex moving articles
7588 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
7589 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
7590 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
7591 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
7592 suggestions you find reasonable.
7595 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
7596 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
7597 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
7598 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
7602 @node Various Summary Stuff
7603 @section Various Summary Stuff
7606 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
7607 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
7608 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
7609 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
7613 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
7614 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
7615 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
7617 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
7618 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
7619 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
7620 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
7621 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
7622 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
7625 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7626 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7627 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
7628 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
7629 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
7631 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7632 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7633 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
7636 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7637 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7638 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
7639 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
7640 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
7641 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
7642 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
7643 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
7644 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
7645 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
7650 @node Summary Group Information
7651 @subsection Summary Group Information
7656 @kindex H f (Summary)
7657 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
7658 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
7659 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
7660 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
7661 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
7662 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
7663 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
7664 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
7665 be used for fetching the file.
7668 @kindex H d (Summary)
7669 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
7670 Give a brief description of the current group
7671 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
7672 rereading the description from the server.
7675 @kindex H h (Summary)
7676 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
7677 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
7678 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
7681 @kindex H i (Summary)
7682 @findex gnus-info-find-node
7683 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
7687 @node Searching for Articles
7688 @subsection Searching for Articles
7693 @kindex M-s (Summary)
7694 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
7695 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
7696 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
7699 @kindex M-r (Summary)
7700 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
7701 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
7702 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
7706 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
7707 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
7708 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
7709 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
7713 @kindex M-& (Summary)
7714 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
7715 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
7716 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
7719 @node Summary Generation Commands
7720 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
7725 @kindex Y g (Summary)
7726 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
7727 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
7730 @kindex Y c (Summary)
7731 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
7732 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
7733 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
7738 @node Really Various Summary Commands
7739 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
7744 @kindex C-d (Summary)
7745 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
7746 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
7747 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
7748 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
7749 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
7750 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
7751 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
7752 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
7756 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
7757 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
7758 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
7759 several documents into one biiig group
7760 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
7761 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
7762 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
7763 command understands the process/prefix convention
7764 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7767 @kindex C-t (Summary)
7768 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
7769 Toggle truncation of summary lines
7770 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
7771 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
7772 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
7776 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
7777 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
7778 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
7781 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
7782 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
7783 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7784 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
7787 @kindex M-C-g (Summary)
7788 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
7789 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7790 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
7795 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
7796 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
7797 @cindex summary exit
7798 @cindex exiting groups
7800 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
7801 group and return you to the group buffer.
7807 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
7809 @findex gnus-summary-exit
7810 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
7811 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
7812 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
7813 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
7814 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
7815 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
7816 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
7817 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
7818 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
7819 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
7823 @kindex Z E (Summary)
7825 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
7826 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
7827 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
7831 @kindex Z c (Summary)
7833 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
7834 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
7835 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
7836 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
7839 @kindex Z C (Summary)
7840 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
7841 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
7842 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
7845 @kindex Z n (Summary)
7846 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
7847 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
7848 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
7851 @kindex Z R (Summary)
7852 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
7853 Exit this group, and then enter it again
7854 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
7855 all articles, both read and unread.
7859 @kindex Z G (Summary)
7860 @kindex M-g (Summary)
7861 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
7862 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
7863 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
7864 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
7865 articles, both read and unread.
7868 @kindex Z N (Summary)
7869 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
7870 Exit the group and go to the next group
7871 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
7874 @kindex Z P (Summary)
7875 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
7876 Exit the group and go to the previous group
7877 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
7880 @kindex Z s (Summary)
7881 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
7882 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
7883 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
7884 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
7885 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
7888 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
7889 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
7892 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
7893 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
7894 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
7895 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
7896 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
7897 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
7898 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
7899 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
7900 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
7901 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
7902 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
7903 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
7905 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
7907 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
7908 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
7909 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
7910 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
7911 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
7912 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
7913 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
7914 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
7915 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
7918 @node Crosspost Handling
7919 @section Crosspost Handling
7923 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
7924 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
7925 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
7926 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
7927 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
7928 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
7931 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
7932 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
7933 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
7934 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
7935 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
7937 @cindex cross-posting
7940 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
7941 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
7942 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
7943 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
7944 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
7945 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
7946 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
7947 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
7948 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
7949 the cross reference mechanism.
7951 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
7952 @cindex overview.fmt
7953 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
7954 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
7955 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
7956 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
7957 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
7958 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
7961 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
7962 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
7963 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
7968 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
7971 @node Duplicate Suppression
7972 @section Duplicate Suppression
7974 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
7975 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
7976 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
7977 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
7982 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
7983 is evil and not very common.
7986 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
7987 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
7990 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
7991 different @sc{nntp} servers.
7994 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
7997 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
7998 well, but these four are the most common situations.
8000 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
8001 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
8002 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
8003 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
8004 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
8005 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
8006 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
8009 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
8010 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
8011 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
8012 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
8013 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
8017 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
8018 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
8019 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
8021 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
8022 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
8023 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
8024 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
8025 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
8026 session are suppressed.
8028 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
8029 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
8030 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
8031 suppression list. The default is 10000.
8033 @item gnus-duplicate-file
8034 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
8035 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
8036 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
8039 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
8040 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
8041 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
8042 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
8043 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
8044 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
8045 to you to figure out, I think.
8048 @node The Article Buffer
8049 @chapter The Article Buffer
8050 @cindex article buffer
8052 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
8053 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
8054 tell Gnus otherwise.
8057 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
8058 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
8059 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
8060 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
8061 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
8065 @node Hiding Headers
8066 @section Hiding Headers
8067 @cindex hiding headers
8068 @cindex deleting headers
8070 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
8071 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
8073 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
8074 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
8075 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
8076 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
8077 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
8078 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
8079 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
8080 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
8081 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
8083 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
8087 @item gnus-visible-headers
8088 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
8089 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
8090 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
8091 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
8093 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
8094 the article and the subject, you'd say:
8097 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
8100 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8103 @item gnus-ignored-headers
8104 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
8105 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
8106 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
8107 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
8108 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
8110 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
8111 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
8114 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
8117 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8120 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
8121 variable will have no effect.
8125 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
8126 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
8127 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
8128 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
8129 the headers are to be displayed.
8131 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
8132 and then the subject, you might say something like:
8135 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
8138 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
8139 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
8141 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8142 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
8143 You can hide further boring headers by setting
8144 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-header} to @code{head}. What this function
8145 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
8146 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
8147 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
8150 These conditions are:
8153 Remove all empty headers.
8155 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
8156 @code{Newsgroups} header.
8158 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
8161 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
8164 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
8167 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
8169 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
8172 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
8175 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
8176 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
8179 This is also the default value for this variable.
8183 @section Using @sc{mime}
8186 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
8187 while people stand around yawning.
8189 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
8190 while all newsreaders die of fear.
8192 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
8193 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
8194 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
8196 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
8197 @findex gnus-display-mime
8198 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
8199 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
8200 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
8201 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
8203 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
8207 @findex gnus-article-press-button
8209 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
8210 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
8211 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
8213 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
8214 @item M-RET (Article)
8216 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
8217 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
8219 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
8221 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
8222 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
8224 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
8226 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
8227 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
8229 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
8231 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
8234 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
8235 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
8238 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
8239 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
8240 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
8241 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
8242 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
8243 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
8244 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
8245 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
8246 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
8248 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
8251 @node Customizing Articles
8252 @section Customizing Articles
8253 @cindex article customization
8255 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
8256 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
8257 called automatically when you select the articles.
8259 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
8260 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
8261 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
8262 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
8266 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
8269 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
8272 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
8275 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
8278 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
8284 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
8285 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
8286 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
8290 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
8295 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
8296 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
8297 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
8298 considered to contain just a single part.
8300 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
8301 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
8302 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
8303 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
8304 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
8305 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
8306 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
8308 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
8309 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
8313 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature
8314 @item gnus-treat-buttonize
8315 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head
8316 @item gnus-treat-emphasize
8317 @item gnus-treat-fill-article
8318 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr
8319 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers
8320 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
8321 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature
8322 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation
8323 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp
8324 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem
8325 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers
8326 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation
8327 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature
8328 @item gnus-treat-date-ut
8329 @item gnus-treat-date-local
8330 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed
8331 @item gnus-treat-date-original
8332 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines
8333 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines
8334 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8335 @item gnus-treat-strip-blank-lines
8336 @item gnus-treat-overstrike
8337 @item gnus-treat-display-xface
8338 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys
8339 @item gnus-treat-display-picons
8342 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
8343 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
8344 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
8345 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
8346 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
8347 everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead make
8348 them invisible if you want to make them go away.
8351 @node Article Keymap
8352 @section Article Keymap
8354 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
8355 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
8356 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
8357 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
8360 A few additional keystrokes are available:
8365 @kindex SPACE (Article)
8366 @findex gnus-article-next-page
8367 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
8370 @kindex DEL (Article)
8371 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
8372 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
8375 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
8376 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
8377 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
8378 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
8379 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
8382 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
8383 @findex gnus-article-mail
8384 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
8385 given a prefix, include the mail.
8389 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
8390 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
8391 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
8395 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
8396 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
8397 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
8400 @kindex TAB (Article)
8401 @findex gnus-article-next-button
8402 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
8403 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
8406 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
8407 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
8408 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
8414 @section Misc Article
8418 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
8419 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
8420 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
8421 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
8424 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
8425 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
8427 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
8428 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
8430 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
8431 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
8432 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
8433 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
8434 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
8435 the contents of the article buffer.
8437 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
8438 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
8439 Hook called in article mode buffers.
8441 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8442 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8443 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
8444 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
8446 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
8447 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
8448 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
8449 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
8450 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with one
8455 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
8456 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
8459 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
8462 @vindex gnus-break-pages
8464 @item gnus-break-pages
8465 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
8466 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
8467 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
8468 paging will not be done.
8470 @item gnus-page-delimiter
8471 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
8472 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
8477 @node Composing Messages
8478 @chapter Composing Messages
8479 @cindex composing messages
8482 @cindex sending mail
8487 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
8488 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
8489 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
8490 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
8491 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
8492 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
8493 to make Gnus try to post using the foreign server.
8496 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
8497 * Post:: Posting and following up.
8498 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
8499 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
8500 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
8501 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
8502 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
8503 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
8506 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
8507 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
8513 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
8516 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
8517 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
8518 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
8519 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
8521 @item gnus-add-to-list
8522 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
8523 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
8524 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
8532 Variables for composing news articles:
8535 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8536 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8537 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
8538 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
8539 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
8540 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
8541 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
8542 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
8543 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
8546 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8547 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8548 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
8549 file. It is 1000 by default.
8554 @node Posting Server
8555 @section Posting Server
8557 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
8558 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
8560 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
8562 @vindex gnus-post-method
8564 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
8565 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
8566 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
8567 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
8568 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
8571 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
8574 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
8575 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
8576 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
8577 the ``current'' server for posting.
8579 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
8580 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
8582 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
8583 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
8586 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
8587 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
8588 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
8593 @section Mail and Post
8595 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
8599 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
8600 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
8601 @cindex mailing lists
8603 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
8604 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
8605 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
8606 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
8607 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
8608 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
8609 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
8610 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
8611 still a pain, though.
8615 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
8616 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
8617 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
8620 @findex ispell-message
8622 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
8626 @node Archived Messages
8627 @section Archived Messages
8628 @cindex archived messages
8629 @cindex sent messages
8631 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
8632 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
8633 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
8634 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
8637 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
8638 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
8639 use to store sent messages. The default is:
8643 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
8644 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
8645 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
8646 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
8649 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
8650 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
8651 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
8652 directory chosen, you could say something like:
8655 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
8656 '(nnfolder "archive"
8657 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
8658 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
8659 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
8662 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
8664 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
8665 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
8666 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
8668 This variable can be used to do the following:
8672 Messages will be saved in that group.
8673 @item a list of strings
8674 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
8675 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
8676 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
8678 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
8683 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
8685 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
8688 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
8690 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
8693 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
8695 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8696 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
8697 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
8698 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
8703 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8704 '((if (message-news-p)
8709 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
8710 messages in one file per month:
8713 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8714 '((if (message-news-p)
8716 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
8717 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
8720 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
8721 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
8723 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
8724 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
8725 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
8726 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
8727 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
8728 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
8729 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
8730 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
8731 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
8732 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
8734 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
8735 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
8736 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
8737 this will disable archiving.
8740 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
8741 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
8742 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
8743 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
8744 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
8747 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
8748 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
8749 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
8752 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
8753 but the latter is the preferred method.
8757 @node Posting Styles
8758 @section Posting Styles
8759 @cindex posting styles
8762 All them variables, they make my head swim.
8764 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
8765 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
8766 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
8769 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
8770 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
8771 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
8772 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
8773 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
8778 (signature "Peace and happiness")
8779 (organization "What me?"))
8781 (signature "Death to everybody"))
8782 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
8783 (organization "Emacs is it")))
8786 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
8787 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
8788 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
8789 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
8790 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
8791 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
8792 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
8793 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
8795 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
8796 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
8797 If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
8798 arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
8799 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
8800 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
8803 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
8804 attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
8805 can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
8806 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
8807 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
8808 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
8811 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
8812 return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
8813 list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
8815 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
8816 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
8817 of the two dynamically bound variables @code{message-this-is-news} and
8818 @code{message-this-is-mail}.
8820 @vindex message-this-is-mail
8821 @vindex message-this-is-news
8823 So here's a new example:
8826 (setq gnus-posting-styles
8828 (signature-file "~/.signature")
8830 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
8831 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
8833 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
8834 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
8835 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
8836 (message-this-is-news
8837 (signature my-news-signature))
8838 (posting-from-work-p
8839 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
8840 (address "user@@bar.foo")
8841 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
8842 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
8844 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
8852 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
8853 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
8854 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
8855 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
8856 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
8858 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
8859 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
8860 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
8861 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
8862 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
8866 @vindex nndraft-directory
8867 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
8868 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
8869 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
8870 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
8871 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
8872 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
8874 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
8875 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
8878 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
8879 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
8880 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
8881 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
8882 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
8883 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
8884 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
8885 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
8886 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
8887 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
8888 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
8889 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
8890 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
8891 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
8893 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
8894 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
8895 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
8897 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
8899 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
8900 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
8901 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
8903 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
8906 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
8907 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
8908 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
8909 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
8910 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
8911 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
8912 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
8915 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
8916 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
8917 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
8920 @node Rejected Articles
8921 @section Rejected Articles
8922 @cindex rejected articles
8924 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
8925 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
8926 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
8927 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
8929 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
8930 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
8931 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
8932 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
8933 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
8935 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
8936 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
8937 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
8940 @node Select Methods
8941 @chapter Select Methods
8942 @cindex foreign groups
8943 @cindex select methods
8945 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
8946 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
8947 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
8948 personal mail group.
8950 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
8951 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
8952 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
8953 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
8954 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
8955 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
8957 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
8958 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
8960 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
8963 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
8964 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
8965 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
8966 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
8967 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
8969 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
8972 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
8973 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
8974 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
8975 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
8976 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
8977 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
8981 @node The Server Buffer
8982 @section The Server Buffer
8984 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
8985 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
8986 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
8987 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
8988 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
8989 backend represents a virtual server.
8991 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
8992 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
8993 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
8994 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
8996 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
8997 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
8998 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
8999 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
9000 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
9001 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
9002 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
9004 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
9005 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
9008 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
9009 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
9010 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
9011 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
9012 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
9013 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
9014 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
9017 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
9018 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
9021 @node Server Buffer Format
9022 @subsection Server Buffer Format
9023 @cindex server buffer format
9025 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
9026 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
9027 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
9028 variable, with some simple extensions:
9033 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
9036 The name of this server.
9039 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
9042 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
9045 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
9046 The mode line can also be customized by using the
9047 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
9048 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
9058 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
9061 @node Server Commands
9062 @subsection Server Commands
9063 @cindex server commands
9069 @findex gnus-server-add-server
9070 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
9074 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
9075 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
9078 @kindex SPACE (Server)
9079 @findex gnus-server-read-server
9080 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
9084 @findex gnus-server-exit
9085 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
9089 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
9090 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
9094 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
9095 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
9099 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
9100 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
9104 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
9105 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
9109 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
9110 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
9111 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
9116 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
9117 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
9118 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
9119 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
9124 @node Example Methods
9125 @subsection Example Methods
9127 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
9130 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
9133 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
9139 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
9140 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
9143 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
9144 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
9146 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
9147 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
9151 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
9154 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
9155 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
9157 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
9158 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
9159 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
9163 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
9166 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
9169 Here's the method for a public spool:
9173 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
9174 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
9177 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
9178 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
9179 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
9180 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
9181 should probably look something like this:
9185 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
9186 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9187 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9188 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9189 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
9192 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
9193 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
9194 server that would look something like this:
9198 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
9199 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
9200 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
9201 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
9202 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
9203 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
9206 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
9207 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
9208 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
9209 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
9212 @node Creating a Virtual Server
9213 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
9215 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
9216 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
9218 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
9219 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
9220 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
9222 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
9224 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
9225 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
9226 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
9227 will contain the following:
9237 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
9238 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
9239 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
9242 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
9243 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
9244 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
9247 @node Server Variables
9248 @subsection Server Variables
9250 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
9251 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
9252 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
9253 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
9254 won't change the "derived" variables.
9256 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
9257 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
9258 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
9259 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
9260 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
9261 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
9262 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
9263 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
9264 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
9268 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
9269 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
9270 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
9274 @node Servers and Methods
9275 @subsection Servers and Methods
9277 Wherever you would normally use a select method
9278 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
9279 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
9280 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
9284 @node Unavailable Servers
9285 @subsection Unavailable Servers
9287 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
9288 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
9289 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
9290 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
9291 actually the case or not.
9293 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
9294 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
9295 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
9296 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
9297 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
9298 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
9299 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
9300 it will regard that server as ``down''.
9302 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
9303 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
9305 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
9306 with the following commands:
9312 @findex gnus-server-open-server
9313 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
9314 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
9318 @findex gnus-server-close-server
9319 Close the connection (if any) to the server
9320 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
9324 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
9325 Mark the current server as unreachable
9326 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
9329 @kindex M-o (Server)
9330 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
9331 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
9332 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
9335 @kindex M-c (Server)
9336 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
9337 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
9338 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
9342 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
9343 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
9344 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
9350 @section Getting News
9351 @cindex reading news
9352 @cindex news backends
9354 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
9355 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
9356 or it can read from a local spool.
9359 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
9360 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
9365 @subsection @sc{nntp}
9368 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
9369 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
9370 server as the, uhm, address.
9372 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
9373 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
9374 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
9375 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9377 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
9378 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
9379 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
9381 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
9386 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
9387 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
9388 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
9390 @cindex authentification
9391 @cindex nntp authentification
9392 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9393 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
9394 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
9395 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
9396 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
9397 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
9398 present in this hook.
9400 @item nntp-authinfo-function
9401 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
9402 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9403 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
9404 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
9405 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
9406 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
9407 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
9408 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
9409 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
9410 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
9411 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
9415 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
9418 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
9419 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
9420 @samp{default} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a valid
9421 @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is the only way the
9422 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
9427 Here's an example file:
9430 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
9431 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
9434 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
9435 have to be first, for instance.
9437 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
9438 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
9439 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
9440 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
9441 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
9442 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
9443 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
9445 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
9446 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
9452 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
9453 previously mentioned.
9455 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
9457 @item nntp-server-action-alist
9458 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
9459 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
9460 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
9461 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
9464 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
9468 You probably don't want to do that, though.
9470 The default value is
9473 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
9474 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
9477 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
9478 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
9480 @item nntp-maximum-request
9481 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
9482 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
9483 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
9484 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
9485 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
9486 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
9487 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
9489 @item nntp-connection-timeout
9490 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
9491 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
9492 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
9493 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
9494 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
9495 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
9496 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
9497 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
9498 no timeouts are done.
9500 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
9501 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
9502 @c @cindex PPP connections
9503 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
9504 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
9505 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
9506 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
9507 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
9508 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
9509 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
9510 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
9511 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
9512 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
9514 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
9515 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
9516 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
9517 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
9520 @item nntp-server-hook
9521 @vindex nntp-server-hook
9522 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
9525 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
9526 @findex nntp-open-telnet
9527 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
9528 @item nntp-open-connection-function
9529 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
9530 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
9531 functions are supplied:
9534 @item nntp-open-network-stream
9535 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
9538 @item nntp-open-rlogin
9539 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
9540 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
9543 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
9547 @item nntp-rlogin-program
9548 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
9549 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
9550 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
9552 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
9553 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
9554 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
9556 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9557 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9558 User name on the remote system.
9562 @item nntp-open-telnet
9563 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
9564 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
9566 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
9569 @item nntp-telnet-command
9570 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
9571 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
9573 @item nntp-telnet-switches
9574 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
9575 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
9577 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
9578 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
9579 User name for log in on the remote system.
9581 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
9582 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
9583 Password to use when logging in.
9585 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
9586 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
9587 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
9590 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9591 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9592 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
9593 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
9595 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9596 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9597 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
9598 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
9599 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
9603 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
9604 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
9605 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
9606 you must have SSLay installed
9607 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
9608 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
9609 define a server as follows:
9612 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
9614 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
9616 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
9617 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
9618 (nntp-port-number "snews")
9619 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
9624 @item nntp-end-of-line
9625 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
9626 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
9627 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
9628 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
9630 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9631 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9632 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
9636 @vindex nntp-address
9637 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
9639 @item nntp-port-number
9640 @vindex nntp-port-number
9641 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
9644 @item nntp-buggy-select
9645 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
9646 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
9648 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
9649 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
9650 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
9651 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
9654 @item nntp-xover-commands
9655 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
9658 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
9659 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
9663 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
9664 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
9665 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
9666 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
9667 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
9668 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
9669 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
9670 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
9671 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
9672 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
9673 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
9675 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
9676 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
9677 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
9679 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9680 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9681 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
9682 server closes connection.
9684 @item nntp-record-commands
9685 @vindex nntp-record-commands
9686 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
9687 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
9688 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
9689 that doesn't seem to work.
9695 @subsection News Spool
9699 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
9700 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
9701 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
9704 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
9705 anything else) as the address.
9707 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
9708 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
9709 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
9710 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
9714 @item nnspool-inews-program
9715 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
9716 Program used to post an article.
9718 @item nnspool-inews-switches
9719 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
9720 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
9722 @item nnspool-spool-directory
9723 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
9724 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
9725 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
9727 @item nnspool-nov-directory
9728 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
9729 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
9730 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
9732 @item nnspool-lib-dir
9733 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
9734 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
9736 @item nnspool-active-file
9737 @vindex nnspool-active-file
9738 The path to the active file.
9740 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
9741 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
9742 The path to the group descriptions file.
9744 @item nnspool-history-file
9745 @vindex nnspool-history-file
9746 The path to the news history file.
9748 @item nnspool-active-times-file
9749 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
9750 The path to the active date file.
9752 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
9753 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
9754 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
9757 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9758 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9760 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
9761 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
9762 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
9768 @section Getting Mail
9769 @cindex reading mail
9772 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
9776 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
9777 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
9778 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
9779 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
9780 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
9781 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
9782 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
9783 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
9784 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
9785 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
9786 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
9790 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
9791 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
9793 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
9794 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
9795 and things will happen automatically.
9797 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
9798 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
9801 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
9802 '((nnml "private")))
9805 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
9806 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
9807 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
9808 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
9809 like any other group.
9811 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
9814 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9815 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9816 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9820 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
9821 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
9822 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
9825 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
9826 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
9827 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
9830 @node Splitting Mail
9831 @subsection Splitting Mail
9832 @cindex splitting mail
9833 @cindex mail splitting
9835 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
9836 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
9837 to be split into groups.
9840 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9841 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9842 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9846 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
9847 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
9848 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
9849 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
9850 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
9851 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
9852 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
9855 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
9858 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
9859 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
9860 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
9861 mail belongs in that group.
9863 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
9864 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
9865 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
9866 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
9867 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
9868 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
9870 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
9871 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
9872 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
9873 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
9874 thinks should carry this mail message.
9876 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
9877 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
9878 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
9879 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
9881 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
9882 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
9883 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
9884 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
9885 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
9887 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
9890 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
9891 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
9892 links. If that's the case for you, set
9893 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
9894 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
9896 @findex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
9897 Header lines may be arbitrarily long. However, the longer a line is,
9898 the longer it takes to match them. Very long lines may lead to Gnus
9899 taking forever to split the mail, so Gnus excludes lines that are longer
9900 than @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} (which defaults to 1024).
9902 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
9903 @kindex nnmail-split-history
9904 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
9905 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
9907 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
9908 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
9909 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
9910 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
9911 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
9912 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
9913 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
9914 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
9919 @subsection Mail Sources
9921 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
9922 POP mail server, or from a procmail directory, for instance.
9925 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
9926 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
9927 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
9931 @node Mail Source Specifiers
9932 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
9939 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by creating a @dfn{mail source
9945 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
9948 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
9949 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
9950 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
9953 The following mail source types are available:
9957 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
9963 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
9964 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
9967 An example file mail source:
9970 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
9973 Or using the default path:
9980 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
9981 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
9987 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
9991 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
9995 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
9996 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
9997 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
9998 predicate are considered.
10002 An example directory mail source:
10005 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
10010 Get mail from a POP server.
10016 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
10017 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
10020 The port number of the POP server. The default is @samp{pop3}.
10023 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
10027 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
10031 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This is should be
10032 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
10035 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
10038 The valid format specifier characters are:
10042 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
10043 included in this string.
10046 The name of the server.
10049 The port number of the server.
10052 The user name to use.
10055 The password to use.
10058 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
10059 corresponding keywords.
10062 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
10063 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
10066 @item :authentication
10067 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
10068 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
10073 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
10074 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
10076 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
10077 default user name, and default fetcher:
10083 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
10086 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
10087 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
10090 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
10093 (pop :program "movemail"
10094 :args (format "po:%s %s %s" user mail-source-crash-box password))
10100 @node Mail Source Customization
10101 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
10103 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
10104 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
10108 @item mail-source-movemail-program
10109 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
10110 A command to be executed to move mail from the inbox. The default is
10113 This can also be a function. In that case, the function will be
10114 called with two parameters -- the name of the INBOX file, and the file
10117 @item mail-source-movemail-args
10118 @vindex mail-source-movemail-args
10119 Extra arguments to give to the command described above.
10121 @item mail-source-crash-box
10122 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
10123 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
10124 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
10126 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
10127 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
10128 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
10130 @item mail-source-directory
10131 @vindex mail-source-directory
10132 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
10133 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
10134 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
10137 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
10138 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
10139 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
10144 @node Fetching Mail
10145 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
10147 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
10148 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to a list of mail source specifiers
10149 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
10151 If this variable is @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to
10152 fetch mail by themselves.
10154 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
10155 mail server, you'd say something like:
10158 (setq nnmail-spool-file
10160 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
10161 :password "secret")))
10164 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
10167 (setq nnmail-spool-file
10168 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
10169 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
10172 :password "secret")))
10176 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
10177 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
10178 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
10179 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
10180 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
10181 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
10185 @node Mail Backend Variables
10186 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
10188 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
10192 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
10193 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
10194 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
10195 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
10197 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
10198 @item nnmail-split-hook
10199 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
10200 @findex RFC1522 decoding
10201 @findex RFC2047 decoding
10202 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
10203 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
10204 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
10205 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
10206 in the buffer will show up in any files.
10207 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
10210 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10211 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
10212 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10213 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
10214 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
10215 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
10216 starting to handle the new mail) and
10217 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
10218 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
10219 default file modes the new mail files get:
10222 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
10223 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
10225 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
10226 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
10229 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
10230 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
10231 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
10232 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
10233 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
10234 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
10235 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
10237 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
10238 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
10239 @findex delete-file
10240 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
10242 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
10243 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
10244 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
10245 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
10246 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
10251 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
10252 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
10253 @cindex mail splitting
10254 @cindex fancy mail splitting
10256 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
10257 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
10258 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
10259 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
10260 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
10261 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
10263 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
10266 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
10267 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
10268 ;; from real errors.
10269 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
10271 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
10272 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
10273 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
10274 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
10275 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
10276 ;; Other mailing lists...
10277 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
10278 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
10280 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
10281 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
10285 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
10286 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
10287 the five possible split syntaxes:
10292 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
10293 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
10297 @var{(FIELD VALUE SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, the first element of
10298 which is a string, then store the message as specified by SPLIT, if
10299 header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp).
10302 @var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
10303 @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
10304 matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
10305 be stored in one or more groups.
10308 @var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
10309 @code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
10312 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
10313 this message. Use with extreme caution.
10316 @var{(: function arg1 arg2 ...)}: If the split is a list, and the first
10317 element is @code{:}, then the second element will be called as a
10318 function with @var{args} given as arguments. The function should return
10322 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
10326 In these splits, @var{FIELD} must match a complete field name.
10327 @var{VALUE} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
10328 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
10329 field names or words. In other words, all @var{VALUE}'s are wrapped in
10330 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
10332 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
10333 @var{FIELD} and @var{VALUE} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
10334 are expanded as specified by the variable
10335 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
10336 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
10339 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
10340 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
10341 when all this splitting is performed.
10343 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
10344 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
10345 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
10348 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
10351 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
10352 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
10353 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
10354 groupings 1 through 9.
10357 @node Incorporating Old Mail
10358 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
10360 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
10361 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
10362 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
10365 Doing so can be quite easy.
10367 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
10368 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
10369 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
10370 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
10371 your @code{nnml} groups.
10377 Go to the group buffer.
10380 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
10381 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10384 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
10387 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
10388 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
10391 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
10392 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
10395 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
10396 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
10397 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
10398 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
10399 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
10401 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
10402 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
10403 using the new mail backend.
10406 @node Expiring Mail
10407 @subsection Expiring Mail
10408 @cindex article expiry
10410 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
10411 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
10412 different approach to mail reading.
10414 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
10415 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
10416 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
10417 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
10418 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
10419 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
10422 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
10423 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
10424 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
10425 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
10426 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
10427 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
10428 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
10429 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
10431 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10432 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
10433 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
10434 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
10435 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
10436 column in the summary buffer.
10438 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
10439 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
10440 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
10441 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
10444 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
10446 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
10447 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
10448 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
10451 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
10452 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
10453 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
10454 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
10455 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
10457 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
10458 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
10461 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10462 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
10465 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
10466 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
10468 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
10469 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
10470 don't really mix very well.
10472 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
10473 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
10474 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
10475 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
10478 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
10479 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
10480 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
10481 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
10484 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10486 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10488 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
10490 ((string= group "mail.junk")
10492 ((string= group "important")
10498 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
10499 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
10501 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
10502 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
10503 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
10506 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
10507 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
10509 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
10510 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
10511 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
10512 easier for procmail users.
10514 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
10515 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
10516 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
10517 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
10518 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
10519 caution. Even more dangerous is the
10520 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
10521 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
10522 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
10523 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
10524 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
10525 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
10526 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
10529 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
10531 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
10532 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
10533 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
10534 auto-expire turned on.
10538 @subsection Washing Mail
10539 @cindex mail washing
10540 @cindex list server brain damage
10541 @cindex incoming mail treatment
10543 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
10544 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
10545 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
10546 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
10547 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
10548 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
10550 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
10551 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
10552 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
10555 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
10556 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
10557 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
10558 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
10561 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10562 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10563 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
10564 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
10565 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
10568 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10569 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10570 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
10571 Emacs running on MS machines.
10575 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10576 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10577 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
10578 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
10581 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10582 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10583 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
10584 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
10586 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10587 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10588 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
10589 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
10590 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
10591 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
10592 also be a list of regexp.
10594 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
10595 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
10598 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
10599 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
10602 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
10603 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
10604 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
10606 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
10607 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
10609 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
10610 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
10611 @code{References} headers.
10615 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10616 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10617 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
10621 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
10622 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
10623 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
10630 @subsection Duplicates
10632 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
10633 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
10634 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
10635 @cindex duplicate mails
10636 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
10637 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
10638 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
10639 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
10640 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
10641 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
10642 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
10643 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
10644 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
10645 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
10646 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
10647 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
10648 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
10650 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
10651 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
10652 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
10653 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
10655 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
10658 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
10659 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
10663 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
10664 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
10665 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
10666 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
10667 (any mail "mail.misc")
10674 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10675 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
10680 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
10681 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
10682 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
10683 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
10684 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
10687 @node Not Reading Mail
10688 @subsection Not Reading Mail
10690 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
10691 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
10692 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
10694 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
10695 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
10697 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10698 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10699 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10700 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10701 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10702 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
10703 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
10704 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
10705 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
10706 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
10707 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
10709 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
10710 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
10714 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
10715 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
10717 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
10718 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
10719 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
10722 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
10723 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
10724 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
10725 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
10726 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
10730 @node Unix Mail Box
10731 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
10733 @cindex unix mail box
10735 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10736 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10737 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
10738 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
10739 which group it belongs in.
10741 Virtual server settings:
10744 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
10745 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10746 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
10748 @item nnmbox-active-file
10749 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10750 The name of the active file for the mail box.
10752 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
10753 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10754 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
10760 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
10764 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10765 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10766 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
10767 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
10768 article to say which group it belongs in.
10770 Virtual server settings:
10773 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
10774 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10775 The name of the rmail mbox file.
10777 @item nnbabyl-active-file
10778 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10779 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
10781 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10782 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10783 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
10788 @subsubsection Mail Spool
10790 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
10792 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
10793 format. It should be used with some caution.
10795 @vindex nnml-directory
10796 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
10797 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
10798 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
10799 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
10801 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
10804 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
10805 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
10806 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
10807 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
10808 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
10809 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
10810 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
10811 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
10813 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
10814 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
10815 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
10816 backend when it comes to reading mail.
10818 Virtual server settings:
10821 @item nnml-directory
10822 @vindex nnml-directory
10823 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
10825 @item nnml-active-file
10826 @vindex nnml-active-file
10827 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
10829 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
10830 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
10831 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
10834 @item nnml-get-new-mail
10835 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10836 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
10838 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
10839 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
10840 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
10842 @item nnml-nov-file-name
10843 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
10844 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
10846 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10847 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10848 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
10852 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
10853 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
10854 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
10855 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
10856 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
10857 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
10858 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
10863 @subsubsection MH Spool
10865 @cindex mh-e mail spool
10867 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
10868 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
10869 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
10870 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
10872 Virtual server settings:
10875 @item nnmh-directory
10876 @vindex nnmh-directory
10877 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
10879 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
10880 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10881 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
10884 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
10885 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
10886 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
10887 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
10888 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
10889 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
10890 to set this variable to @code{t}.
10895 @subsubsection Mail Folders
10897 @cindex mbox folders
10898 @cindex mail folders
10900 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
10901 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
10902 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
10905 Virtual server settings:
10908 @item nnfolder-directory
10909 @vindex nnfolder-directory
10910 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
10912 @item nnfolder-active-file
10913 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
10914 The name of the active file.
10916 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10917 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10918 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
10920 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
10921 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10922 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
10924 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
10925 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
10926 @cindex backup files
10927 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
10928 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
10929 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
10930 your @file{.emacs} file:
10933 (defun turn-off-backup ()
10934 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
10936 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
10939 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
10940 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
10941 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
10942 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
10943 extract some information from it before removing it.
10948 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
10949 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
10950 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
10951 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
10952 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
10953 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
10957 @node Other Sources
10958 @section Other Sources
10960 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
10961 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
10965 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
10966 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
10967 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
10968 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
10969 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
10970 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
10974 @node Directory Groups
10975 @subsection Directory Groups
10977 @cindex directory groups
10979 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
10980 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
10983 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
10984 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
10985 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
10986 backend to read directories. Big deal.
10988 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
10989 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
10990 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
10991 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
10992 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
10994 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
10996 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
10997 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
10998 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
10999 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
11002 @node Anything Groups
11003 @subsection Anything Groups
11006 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
11007 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
11008 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
11011 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
11012 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
11013 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
11014 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
11015 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
11016 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
11017 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
11018 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
11019 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
11020 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
11023 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
11024 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
11025 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
11026 in the article buffer, just as usual.
11028 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
11029 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
11030 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
11031 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
11033 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
11034 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
11035 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
11036 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
11037 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
11038 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
11039 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
11040 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
11045 @item nneething-map-file-directory
11046 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
11047 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
11048 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
11050 @item nneething-exclude-files
11051 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
11052 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
11053 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
11055 @item nneething-include-files
11056 @vindex nneething-include-files
11057 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
11058 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
11060 @item nneething-map-file
11061 @vindex nneething-map-file
11062 Name of the map files.
11066 @node Document Groups
11067 @subsection Document Groups
11069 @cindex documentation group
11072 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
11073 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
11080 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
11085 The standard Unix mbox file.
11087 @cindex MMDF mail box
11089 The MMDF mail box format.
11092 Several news articles appended into a file.
11095 @cindex rnews batch files
11096 The rnews batch transport format.
11097 @cindex forwarded messages
11100 Forwarded articles.
11103 MIME multipart messages.
11105 @item standard-digest
11106 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
11109 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
11112 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
11113 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
11114 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
11117 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
11118 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
11119 group. And that's it.
11121 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
11122 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
11123 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
11124 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
11125 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
11126 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
11127 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
11128 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
11129 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
11130 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
11132 Virtual server variables:
11135 @item nndoc-article-type
11136 @vindex nndoc-article-type
11137 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
11138 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
11139 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
11140 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs} or @code{guess}.
11142 @item nndoc-post-type
11143 @vindex nndoc-post-type
11144 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
11145 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
11150 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
11154 @node Document Server Internals
11155 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
11157 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
11158 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
11159 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
11160 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
11162 First, here's an example document type definition:
11166 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
11167 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
11170 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
11171 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
11172 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
11173 types can be defined with very few settings:
11176 @item first-article
11177 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
11178 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
11181 @item article-begin
11182 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
11183 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
11185 @item head-begin-function
11186 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
11189 @item nndoc-head-begin
11190 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
11193 @item nndoc-head-end
11194 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
11195 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
11197 @item body-begin-function
11198 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
11202 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
11205 @item body-end-function
11206 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
11210 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
11213 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
11214 regexp will be totally ignored.
11218 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
11219 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
11220 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
11221 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
11222 something that's palatable for Gnus:
11225 @item prepare-body-function
11226 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
11227 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
11228 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
11230 @item article-transform-function
11231 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
11232 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
11233 body of the article.
11235 @item generate-head-function
11236 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
11237 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
11238 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
11239 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
11243 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
11248 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
11249 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
11250 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
11251 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
11252 (head-end . "^ ?$")
11253 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
11254 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
11255 (subtype digest guess))
11258 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
11259 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
11260 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
11261 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
11262 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
11264 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
11265 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
11266 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
11267 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
11268 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
11269 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
11270 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
11271 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
11272 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
11273 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
11281 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
11282 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
11283 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
11285 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
11286 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
11287 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
11290 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
11291 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
11292 that interested in doing things properly.
11294 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
11295 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
11298 First some terminology:
11303 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
11304 get news and/or mail from.
11307 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
11308 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
11311 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
11315 @item message packets
11316 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
11317 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
11318 default, where @var{X} is a number.
11320 @item response packets
11321 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
11322 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
11323 default, where @var{X} is a number.
11333 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
11334 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
11335 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
11336 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
11339 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
11342 You put the packet in your home directory.
11345 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
11346 the native or secondary server.
11349 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
11350 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
11353 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
11357 You transfer this packet to the server.
11360 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
11363 You then repeat until you die.
11367 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
11368 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
11371 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
11372 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
11373 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
11377 @node SOUP Commands
11378 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
11380 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
11384 @kindex G s b (Group)
11385 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
11386 Pack all unread articles in the current group
11387 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
11388 process/prefix convention.
11391 @kindex G s w (Group)
11392 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
11393 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
11396 @kindex G s s (Group)
11397 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
11398 Send all replies from the replies packet
11399 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
11402 @kindex G s p (Group)
11403 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
11404 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
11407 @kindex G s r (Group)
11408 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
11409 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
11412 @kindex O s (Summary)
11413 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
11414 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
11415 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
11416 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11421 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
11426 @item gnus-soup-directory
11427 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
11428 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
11429 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
11431 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
11432 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
11433 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
11434 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
11436 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
11437 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
11438 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
11439 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
11441 @item gnus-soup-packer
11442 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
11443 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
11444 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
11446 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
11447 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
11448 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
11449 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
11451 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
11452 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
11453 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
11455 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
11456 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
11457 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
11458 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
11464 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
11467 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
11468 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
11469 you can read them at leisure.
11471 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
11475 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
11476 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
11477 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
11478 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
11480 @item nnsoup-directory
11481 @vindex nnsoup-directory
11482 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
11483 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
11485 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
11486 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
11487 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
11488 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
11490 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
11491 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
11492 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
11493 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
11494 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
11496 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
11497 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
11498 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
11499 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
11501 @item nnsoup-active-file
11502 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
11503 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
11504 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
11505 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
11506 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
11508 @item nnsoup-packer
11509 @vindex nnsoup-packer
11510 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
11511 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
11513 @item nnsoup-unpacker
11514 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
11515 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
11516 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
11518 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
11519 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
11520 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
11523 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
11524 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
11525 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
11528 @item nnsoup-always-save
11529 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
11530 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
11536 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
11538 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
11539 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
11540 more for that to happen.
11542 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
11543 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
11544 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
11547 In specific, this is what it does:
11550 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
11551 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
11554 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
11555 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
11556 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
11560 @subsection Web Searches
11564 @cindex InReference
11565 @cindex Usenet searches
11566 @cindex searching the Usenet
11568 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
11569 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
11570 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
11571 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
11572 searches without having to use a browser.
11574 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
11575 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
11576 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
11577 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
11578 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
11580 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
11581 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
11582 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
11583 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
11584 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
11585 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
11586 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
11587 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
11588 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
11589 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
11592 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
11593 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
11594 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
11595 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
11596 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
11597 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
11599 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
11600 to use @code{nnweb}.
11602 Virtual server variables:
11607 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
11608 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
11612 @vindex nnweb-search
11613 The search string to feed to the search engine.
11615 @item nnweb-max-hits
11616 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
11617 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
11620 @item nnweb-type-definition
11621 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
11622 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
11623 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
11628 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
11632 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
11635 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
11638 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
11642 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
11649 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
11650 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
11651 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
11654 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
11655 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
11656 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
11658 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
11664 @item nngateway-address
11665 @vindex nngateway-address
11666 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
11668 @item nngateway-header-transformation
11669 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
11670 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
11671 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
11672 transformation should be called, and defaults to
11673 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
11674 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
11677 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
11678 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
11679 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
11682 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
11685 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
11688 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
11691 The following pre-defined functions exist:
11693 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11696 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11697 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11698 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
11700 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11702 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11703 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11704 @code{nngateway-address}.
11709 (setq gnus-post-method
11710 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
11711 (nngateway-header-transformation
11712 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
11720 So, to use this, simply say something like:
11723 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
11727 @node Combined Groups
11728 @section Combined Groups
11730 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
11734 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
11735 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
11739 @node Virtual Groups
11740 @subsection Virtual Groups
11742 @cindex virtual groups
11743 @cindex merging groups
11745 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
11748 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
11749 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
11750 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
11752 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
11753 regexp to match component groups.
11755 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
11756 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
11757 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
11758 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
11759 the virtual group.)
11761 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
11762 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
11765 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
11768 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
11769 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
11771 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
11772 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
11773 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
11774 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
11777 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
11780 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
11781 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
11782 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
11784 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
11785 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
11786 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
11787 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
11788 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
11790 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
11791 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
11792 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
11794 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
11795 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
11796 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
11797 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
11798 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
11799 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
11800 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
11801 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
11802 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
11803 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
11804 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
11806 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
11807 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
11808 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
11809 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
11810 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
11811 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
11812 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
11814 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
11815 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
11819 @node Kibozed Groups
11820 @subsection Kibozed Groups
11824 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
11825 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
11826 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
11827 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
11829 @kindex G k (Group)
11830 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
11833 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
11834 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
11835 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
11836 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
11838 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
11839 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
11840 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
11842 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
11843 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
11844 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
11845 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
11846 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
11847 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
11848 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
11849 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
11851 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
11852 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
11853 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
11854 Stranger things have happened.
11856 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
11857 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
11859 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
11860 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
11861 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
11862 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
11863 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
11864 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
11866 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
11867 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
11870 @node Gnus Unplugged
11871 @section Gnus Unplugged
11876 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
11878 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
11879 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
11880 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
11881 read news. Believe it or not.
11883 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
11884 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
11885 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
11886 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
11887 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
11889 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
11890 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
11891 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
11892 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
11893 reading news on a machine.
11895 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
11899 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
11900 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
11904 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
11905 @file{.gnus.el} file:
11912 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
11914 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
11917 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
11918 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
11919 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
11920 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
11921 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
11922 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
11923 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
11924 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
11925 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
11930 @subsection Agent Basics
11932 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
11934 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
11935 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
11936 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
11937 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
11939 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
11940 connected to the net continuously.
11942 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
11943 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
11945 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
11950 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
11951 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
11952 already fetched while in this mode.
11955 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
11956 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
11957 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
11960 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
11961 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
11962 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
11963 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
11966 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
11967 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
11968 then you read the news offline.
11971 And then you go to step 2.
11974 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
11980 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
11981 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
11982 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
11983 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
11984 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
11985 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
11988 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
11995 @node Agent Categories
11996 @subsection Agent Categories
11998 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
11999 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
12000 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
12001 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
12002 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
12003 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
12004 you're interested in the articles anyway.
12006 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
12007 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
12008 Gnus has its own buffer for creating and managing categories.
12011 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
12012 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
12013 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
12017 @node Category Syntax
12018 @subsubsection Category Syntax
12020 A category consists of two things.
12024 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
12025 are eligible for downloading; and
12028 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
12029 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
12030 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
12033 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
12034 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
12035 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
12036 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
12038 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
12039 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
12040 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as descibed below.
12042 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
12043 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
12044 operators sprinkled in between.
12046 Perhaps some examples are in order.
12048 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
12049 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
12055 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
12056 short (for some value of ``short'').
12058 Here's a more complex predicate:
12067 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
12068 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
12071 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
12072 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
12073 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
12075 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
12076 you want to do, you can write your own.
12080 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
12081 lines; default 100.
12084 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
12085 lines; default 200.
12088 True iff the article has a download score less than
12089 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
12092 True iff the article has a download score greater than
12093 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
12096 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
12097 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
12098 checksum and sees whether articles match.
12107 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
12108 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
12109 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
12112 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
12113 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
12114 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
12115 something along the lines of the following:
12118 (defun my-article-old-p ()
12119 "Say whether an article is old."
12120 (< (time-to-day (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
12121 (- (time-to-day (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
12124 with the predicate then defined as:
12127 (not my-article-old-p)
12130 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
12131 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
12132 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
12133 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
12136 (defvar gnus-category-predicate-alist
12137 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
12138 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
12141 and simply specify your predicate as:
12147 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
12148 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
12149 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
12150 just don't give a damm.
12153 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
12154 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
12155 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
12156 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
12157 parameters like so:
12160 (agent-predicate . short)
12163 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category
12164 default. Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this,
12165 the @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair
12168 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
12171 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
12174 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
12175 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
12176 predicate is assumed to be a list.
12179 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
12180 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
12181 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
12182 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
12183 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
12184 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
12186 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
12187 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
12188 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
12189 if it's to be specific to that group.
12191 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
12198 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
12199 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
12205 Category specification
12209 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
12215 Group Parameter specification
12218 (agent-score ("from"
12219 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
12224 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
12230 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
12237 Category specification
12240 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
12246 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
12250 Group Parameter specification
12253 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
12256 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
12261 Use @code{normal} score files
12263 If you dont want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
12264 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
12265 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
12266 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
12268 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
12269 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
12270 files for a group, *filtering out* those those sections that do not
12271 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
12275 Category Specification
12282 Group Parameter specification
12285 (agent-score . file)
12290 @node The Category Buffer
12291 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
12293 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
12294 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
12295 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
12297 The following commands are available in this buffer:
12301 @kindex q (Category)
12302 @findex gnus-category-exit
12303 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
12306 @kindex k (Category)
12307 @findex gnus-category-kill
12308 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
12311 @kindex c (Category)
12312 @findex gnus-category-copy
12313 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
12316 @kindex a (Category)
12317 @findex gnus-category-add
12318 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
12321 @kindex p (Category)
12322 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
12323 Edit the predicate of the current category
12324 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
12327 @kindex g (Category)
12328 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
12329 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
12330 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
12333 @kindex s (Category)
12334 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
12335 Edit the download score rule of the current category
12336 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
12339 @kindex l (Category)
12340 @findex gnus-category-list
12341 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
12345 @node Category Variables
12346 @subsubsection Category Variables
12349 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
12350 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
12351 Hook run in category buffers.
12353 @item gnus-category-line-format
12354 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
12355 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
12356 Variables}). Valid elements are:
12360 The name of the category.
12363 The number of groups in the category.
12366 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
12367 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
12368 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
12370 @item gnus-agent-short-article
12371 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
12372 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
12374 @item gnus-agent-long-article
12375 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
12376 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
12378 @item gnus-agent-low-score
12379 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
12380 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
12383 @item gnus-agent-high-score
12384 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
12385 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
12391 @node Agent Commands
12392 @subsection Agent Commands
12394 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
12395 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
12396 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
12400 * Group Agent Commands::
12401 * Summary Agent Commands::
12402 * Server Agent Commands::
12405 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
12406 following incantation:
12408 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
12410 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
12415 @node Group Agent Commands
12416 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
12420 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
12421 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
12422 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
12423 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
12426 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
12427 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
12428 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
12431 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
12432 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
12433 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
12434 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
12437 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
12438 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
12439 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
12440 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}). @xref{Drafts}.
12443 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
12444 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
12445 Add the current group to an Agent category
12446 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
12447 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
12450 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
12451 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
12452 Remove the current group from its category, if any
12453 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
12454 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
12459 @node Summary Agent Commands
12460 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
12464 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
12465 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
12466 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
12469 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
12470 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
12471 Remove the downloading mark from the article
12472 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
12475 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
12476 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
12477 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
12480 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
12481 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
12482 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
12487 @node Server Agent Commands
12488 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
12492 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
12493 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
12494 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
12495 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
12498 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
12499 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
12500 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
12501 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
12507 @subsection Agent Expiry
12509 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
12510 @findex gnus-agent-expire
12511 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
12512 @cindex Agent expiry
12513 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
12516 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
12517 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
12518 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
12519 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
12520 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
12521 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
12523 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
12524 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
12525 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
12526 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
12527 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
12530 @node Outgoing Messages
12531 @subsection Outgoing Messages
12533 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
12534 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
12535 after posting, and edit them at will.
12537 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
12538 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
12539 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
12540 messages in the draft group.
12544 @node Agent Variables
12545 @subsection Agent Variables
12548 @item gnus-agent-directory
12549 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
12550 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
12551 @file{~/News/agent/}.
12553 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
12554 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
12555 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
12556 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
12557 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
12560 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
12561 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
12562 Hook run when connecting to the network.
12564 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
12565 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
12566 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
12571 @node Example Setup
12572 @subsection Example Setup
12574 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
12575 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
12576 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
12579 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over NNTP
12580 ;;; from your ISP's server.
12581 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "nntp.your-isp.com"))
12583 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
12584 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
12585 (setenv "MAILHOST" "pop.your-isp.com")
12586 (setq nnmail-spool-file "po:username")
12588 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
12589 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12591 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
12595 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
12596 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
12599 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
12600 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
12601 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
12602 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
12603 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
12606 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
12607 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
12608 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
12609 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
12610 back all the killed groups.)
12612 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
12613 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
12614 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
12617 @node Batching Agents
12618 @subsection Batching Agents
12620 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
12621 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
12622 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
12626 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
12630 @node Agent Caveats
12631 @subsection Agent Caveats
12633 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
12634 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
12638 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
12643 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
12644 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
12650 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
12651 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
12658 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
12659 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
12660 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
12663 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
12664 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
12665 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
12666 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
12667 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
12669 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
12670 before generating the summary buffer.
12672 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
12673 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
12674 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
12676 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
12677 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
12678 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
12679 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
12682 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
12683 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
12684 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
12685 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
12686 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
12687 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
12688 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
12689 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
12690 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
12691 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
12692 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
12693 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
12694 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
12695 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
12696 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
12697 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
12701 @node Summary Score Commands
12702 @section Summary Score Commands
12703 @cindex score commands
12705 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
12706 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
12707 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
12708 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
12709 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
12711 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
12712 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
12713 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
12714 score file the current one.
12716 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
12721 @kindex V s (Summary)
12722 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
12723 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
12726 @kindex V S (Summary)
12727 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
12728 Display the score of the current article
12729 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
12732 @kindex V t (Summary)
12733 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
12734 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
12735 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
12738 @kindex V R (Summary)
12739 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
12740 Run the current summary through the scoring process
12741 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
12742 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
12743 effect you're having.
12746 @kindex V c (Summary)
12747 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
12748 Make a different score file the current
12749 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
12752 @kindex V e (Summary)
12753 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
12754 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
12755 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
12759 @kindex V f (Summary)
12760 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
12761 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
12762 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
12765 @kindex V F (Summary)
12766 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
12767 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
12768 after editing score files.
12771 @kindex V C (Summary)
12772 @findex gnus-score-customize
12773 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
12774 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
12778 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
12783 @kindex V m (Summary)
12784 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
12785 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
12786 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
12789 @kindex V x (Summary)
12790 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
12791 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
12792 expunge all articles below this score
12793 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
12796 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
12797 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
12800 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
12801 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
12805 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
12806 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
12808 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
12809 keys are available:
12813 Score on the author name.
12816 Score on the subject line.
12819 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
12822 Score on the @code{References} line.
12828 Score on the number of lines.
12831 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
12834 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
12835 the followups to this author.
12849 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
12850 what headers you are scoring on.
12862 Substring matching.
12865 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
12894 Greater than number.
12899 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
12900 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
12901 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
12905 Temporary score entry.
12908 Permanent score entry.
12911 Immediately scoring.
12916 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
12917 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
12918 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
12919 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
12921 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
12922 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
12923 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
12924 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
12925 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
12927 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
12928 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
12929 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
12930 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
12931 current score file.
12933 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
12934 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
12935 pretend they are keymaps or not.
12938 @node Group Score Commands
12939 @section Group Score Commands
12940 @cindex group score commands
12942 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
12947 @kindex W f (Group)
12948 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
12949 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
12950 all the time. This command will flush the cache
12951 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
12955 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
12957 @findex gnus-batch-score
12958 @cindex batch scoring
12960 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
12964 @node Score Variables
12965 @section Score Variables
12966 @cindex score variables
12970 @item gnus-use-scoring
12971 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
12972 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
12973 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
12975 @item gnus-kill-killed
12976 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
12977 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
12978 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
12979 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
12980 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
12981 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
12982 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
12984 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
12985 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
12986 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
12987 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
12988 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
12990 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
12991 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
12992 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
12993 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
12995 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12996 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12997 @cindex score cache
12998 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
12999 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
13000 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
13001 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
13002 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
13003 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
13006 @item gnus-save-score
13007 @vindex gnus-save-score
13008 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
13009 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
13010 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
13012 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
13013 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
13014 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
13015 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
13016 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
13017 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
13018 manually entered data.
13020 @item gnus-summary-default-score
13021 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
13022 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
13024 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
13025 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
13026 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
13027 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
13028 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
13029 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
13031 @item gnus-score-over-mark
13032 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
13033 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
13034 default. Default is @samp{+}.
13036 @item gnus-score-below-mark
13037 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
13038 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
13039 default. Default is @samp{-}.
13041 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
13042 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
13043 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
13044 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
13046 Predefined functions available are:
13049 @item gnus-score-find-single
13050 @findex gnus-score-find-single
13051 Only apply the group's own score file.
13053 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
13054 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
13055 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
13056 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
13057 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
13058 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
13059 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
13060 then a regexp match is done.
13062 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
13063 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
13065 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
13066 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
13067 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
13068 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
13070 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
13071 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
13072 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
13073 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
13074 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
13077 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
13078 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
13079 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
13080 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
13081 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
13082 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
13085 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
13086 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
13087 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
13088 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
13089 are expired. It's 7 by default.
13091 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
13092 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
13093 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
13094 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
13095 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
13096 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
13097 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
13100 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
13101 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
13102 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
13104 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
13105 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
13106 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
13107 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
13108 threading---according to the current value of
13109 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
13110 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
13111 simplified in this manner.
13116 @node Score File Format
13117 @section Score File Format
13118 @cindex score file format
13120 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
13121 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
13122 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
13124 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
13128 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
13130 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
13132 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
13134 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
13139 (mark-and-expunge -10)
13143 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
13144 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
13145 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
13146 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
13150 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
13151 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
13153 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
13154 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
13155 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
13157 Six keys are supported by this alist:
13162 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
13163 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
13164 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
13165 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
13166 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
13167 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
13168 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
13169 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
13170 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
13171 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
13172 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
13173 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
13174 to articles that matches these score entries.
13176 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
13177 score entry has one to four elements.
13181 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
13182 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
13186 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
13187 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
13188 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
13189 is successful. If this element is not present, the
13190 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
13191 instead. This is 1000 by default.
13194 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
13195 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
13196 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
13197 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
13198 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
13201 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
13202 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
13203 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
13204 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
13207 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
13208 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
13209 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
13210 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
13211 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
13212 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
13213 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
13214 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
13215 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
13216 instead, if you feel like.
13219 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
13220 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
13222 These predicates are true if
13225 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
13228 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
13229 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
13236 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
13237 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
13238 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
13239 it's not. I think.)
13241 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
13242 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
13243 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
13244 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
13247 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
13248 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
13249 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
13250 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
13251 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
13252 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
13253 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
13257 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
13258 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
13259 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
13260 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
13261 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
13262 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
13263 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
13264 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
13267 @item Head, Body, All
13268 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
13272 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
13273 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
13274 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
13275 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
13276 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
13277 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
13278 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
13282 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
13283 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
13284 @samp{thread} match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each
13285 article that has @var{X} in its @code{References} header. (These new
13286 @samp{thread} matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching
13287 articles.) This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an
13288 entire thread, even though some articles in the thread may not have
13289 complete @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
13290 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
13291 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
13295 @cindex Score File Atoms
13297 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
13298 lower than this number will be marked as read.
13301 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
13302 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
13304 @item mark-and-expunge
13305 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
13306 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
13309 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
13310 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
13311 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
13312 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
13313 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
13316 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
13317 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
13320 @item exclude-files
13321 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
13322 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
13326 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
13327 ignored when handling global score files.
13330 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
13331 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
13332 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
13333 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
13336 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
13337 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
13338 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
13339 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
13341 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
13345 (mark-and-expunge -100)
13348 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
13349 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
13350 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
13351 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
13352 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
13354 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
13355 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
13356 ordinary scoring rules.
13359 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
13360 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
13361 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
13362 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
13363 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
13364 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
13365 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
13366 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
13367 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
13368 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
13369 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
13373 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
13374 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
13375 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
13376 file for a number of groups.
13379 @cindex local variables
13380 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
13381 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
13382 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
13383 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
13384 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
13388 @node Score File Editing
13389 @section Score File Editing
13391 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
13392 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
13393 with a mode for that.
13395 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
13396 additional commands:
13401 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
13402 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
13403 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
13404 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
13407 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
13408 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
13409 Insert the current date in numerical format
13410 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
13411 you were wondering.
13414 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
13415 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
13416 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
13417 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
13418 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
13423 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
13425 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
13426 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
13428 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
13429 e} to begin editing score files.
13432 @node Adaptive Scoring
13433 @section Adaptive Scoring
13434 @cindex adaptive scoring
13436 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
13437 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
13438 stupidity, to be precise.
13440 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
13441 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
13442 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
13443 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
13444 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
13445 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
13446 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
13447 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
13448 variable to @code{(word line)}.
13450 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
13451 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
13452 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
13453 might look something like this:
13456 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
13457 '((gnus-unread-mark)
13458 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
13459 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
13460 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
13461 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
13462 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
13463 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
13464 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
13465 (gnus-ancient-mark)
13466 (gnus-low-score-mark)
13467 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
13470 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
13471 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
13472 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
13473 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
13474 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
13475 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
13478 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
13479 will be applied to each article.
13481 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
13482 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
13483 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
13484 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
13486 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
13487 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
13488 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
13489 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
13491 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
13492 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
13493 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
13494 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
13496 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
13497 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
13498 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
13499 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
13500 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
13501 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
13503 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
13504 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
13505 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
13506 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
13507 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
13508 aspirins afterwards.)
13510 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
13511 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
13512 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
13514 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
13515 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
13516 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
13518 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
13519 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
13520 let you use different rules in different groups.
13522 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
13523 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
13524 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
13527 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
13528 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
13529 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
13530 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
13531 the length of the match is less than
13532 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
13533 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
13536 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
13537 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
13538 headers. If you adapt on words, the
13539 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
13540 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
13543 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
13544 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
13545 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
13546 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
13547 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
13550 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
13551 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
13552 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
13553 score with 30 points.
13555 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
13556 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
13557 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
13558 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
13559 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
13561 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
13562 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
13563 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
13564 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
13566 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
13567 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
13568 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
13569 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
13571 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
13572 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
13573 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
13574 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
13575 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
13577 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
13578 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
13579 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
13581 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
13582 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
13583 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
13584 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
13587 @node Home Score File
13588 @section Home Score File
13590 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
13591 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
13592 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
13593 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
13595 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
13596 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
13597 could perhaps use the same home score file.
13599 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
13600 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
13605 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
13609 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
13610 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
13614 A list. The elements in this list can be:
13618 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
13619 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
13622 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
13623 the home score file.
13626 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
13629 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
13634 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
13637 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13638 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
13641 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
13642 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
13644 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
13646 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13647 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
13650 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
13651 Other functions include
13654 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
13655 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
13656 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
13657 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
13661 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
13662 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
13663 their own home score files:
13666 (setq gnus-home-score-file
13667 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
13668 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
13669 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
13670 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
13673 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
13674 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
13675 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
13676 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
13677 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
13679 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
13680 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
13681 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
13682 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
13683 precedence over this variable.
13686 @node Followups To Yourself
13687 @section Followups To Yourself
13689 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
13690 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
13691 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
13692 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
13693 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
13694 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
13698 @item gnus-score-followup-article
13699 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
13700 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
13703 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
13704 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
13705 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
13709 @vindex message-sent-hook
13710 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
13711 @code{message-sent-hook}.
13713 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
13714 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
13718 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
13719 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
13722 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
13723 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
13728 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
13732 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
13733 is system-dependent.
13737 @section Scoring Tips
13738 @cindex scoring tips
13744 @cindex scoring crossposts
13745 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
13746 the @code{Xref} header.
13748 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
13751 @item Multiple crossposts
13752 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
13753 more than, say, 3 groups:
13755 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
13758 @item Matching on the body
13759 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
13760 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
13761 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
13762 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
13763 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
13764 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
13765 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
13768 @item Marking as read
13769 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
13770 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
13771 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
13775 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
13777 @item Negated character classes
13778 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
13779 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
13780 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
13784 @node Reverse Scoring
13785 @section Reverse Scoring
13786 @cindex reverse scoring
13788 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
13789 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
13790 like this in your score file:
13794 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
13799 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
13800 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
13803 @node Global Score Files
13804 @section Global Score Files
13805 @cindex global score files
13807 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
13808 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
13809 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
13811 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
13812 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
13813 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
13815 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
13816 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
13817 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
13818 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
13819 files are applicable to which group.
13821 Say you want to use the score file
13822 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
13823 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
13826 (setq gnus-global-score-files
13827 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
13828 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
13831 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
13832 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
13833 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
13834 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
13835 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
13837 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
13838 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
13840 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
13841 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
13842 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
13843 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
13844 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
13845 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
13847 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
13853 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
13855 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
13857 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
13859 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
13860 lowered out of existence.
13862 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
13863 articles completely.
13866 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
13867 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
13868 old articles for a long time.
13871 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
13872 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
13873 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
13874 holding our breath yet?
13878 @section Kill Files
13881 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
13882 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
13883 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
13885 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
13886 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
13887 files into score files.
13889 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
13890 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
13891 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
13892 that isn't a very good idea.
13894 Normal kill files look like this:
13897 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13898 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
13902 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
13903 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
13905 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
13906 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
13909 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
13914 @kindex M-k (Summary)
13915 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
13916 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
13919 @kindex M-K (Summary)
13920 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
13921 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
13924 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
13929 @kindex M-k (Group)
13930 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
13931 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
13934 @kindex M-K (Group)
13935 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
13936 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
13939 Kill file variables:
13942 @item gnus-kill-file-name
13943 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
13944 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
13945 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
13946 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
13947 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
13948 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
13950 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13951 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13952 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
13953 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
13956 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
13957 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
13958 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
13959 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
13960 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
13961 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
13962 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
13963 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
13964 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
13966 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13967 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13968 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
13973 @node Converting Kill Files
13974 @section Converting Kill Files
13976 @cindex converting kill files
13978 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
13979 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
13980 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
13983 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
13984 You can fetch it from
13985 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
13987 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
13988 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
13989 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
13997 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
13998 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
13999 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
14001 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
14002 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
14003 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
14004 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
14005 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
14006 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
14007 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
14008 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
14012 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
14013 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
14014 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
14015 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
14019 @node Using GroupLens
14020 @subsection Using GroupLens
14022 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
14024 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
14025 better bit in town at the moment.
14027 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
14031 @item gnus-use-grouplens
14032 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
14033 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
14034 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
14036 @item grouplens-pseudonym
14037 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
14038 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
14039 with the Better Bit Bureau.
14041 @item grouplens-newsgroups
14042 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
14043 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
14047 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
14048 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
14049 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
14050 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
14051 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
14052 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
14055 @node Rating Articles
14056 @subsection Rating Articles
14058 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
14059 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
14060 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
14061 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
14064 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
14069 @kindex r (GroupLens)
14070 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
14071 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
14074 @kindex k (GroupLens)
14075 @findex grouplens-score-thread
14076 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
14077 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
14078 threads in rec.humor.
14082 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
14083 the score of the article you're reading.
14088 @kindex n (GroupLens)
14089 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
14090 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
14093 @kindex , (GroupLens)
14094 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
14095 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
14099 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
14100 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
14103 @node Displaying Predictions
14104 @subsection Displaying Predictions
14106 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
14107 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
14108 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
14109 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
14110 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
14112 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
14113 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
14114 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
14115 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
14116 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
14117 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
14118 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
14119 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
14120 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
14121 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
14122 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
14123 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
14124 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
14126 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
14127 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
14128 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
14129 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
14131 The following are valid values for that variable.
14134 @item prediction-spot
14135 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
14138 @item confidence-interval
14139 A numeric confidence interval.
14141 @item prediction-bar
14142 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
14144 @item confidence-bar
14145 Numerical confidence.
14147 @item confidence-spot
14148 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
14150 @item prediction-num
14151 Plain-old numeric value.
14153 @item confidence-plus-minus
14154 Prediction +/- confidence.
14159 @node GroupLens Variables
14160 @subsection GroupLens Variables
14164 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
14165 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
14166 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
14167 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
14170 @item grouplens-bbb-host
14171 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
14174 @item grouplens-bbb-port
14175 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
14177 @item grouplens-score-offset
14178 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
14179 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
14182 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
14183 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
14184 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
14189 @node Advanced Scoring
14190 @section Advanced Scoring
14192 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
14193 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
14194 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
14195 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
14196 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
14198 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
14202 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
14203 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
14204 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
14208 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
14209 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
14211 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
14212 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
14213 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
14214 non-@code{nil} value.
14216 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
14217 operator, and various match operators.
14224 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
14225 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
14226 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
14231 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
14232 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
14233 then this operator will return @code{false}.
14238 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
14239 logical negation of the value of its argument.
14243 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
14244 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
14245 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
14246 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
14247 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
14248 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
14249 the ancestry you want to go.
14251 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
14252 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
14253 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
14254 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
14255 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
14258 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
14259 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
14261 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
14262 when he's talking about Gnus:
14266 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14267 ("subject" "Gnus"))
14273 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
14277 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14284 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
14285 really don't want to read what he's written:
14289 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14290 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
14294 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
14295 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
14296 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
14303 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
14304 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
14305 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
14306 ("body" "white.*socks"))
14310 The possibilities are endless.
14313 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
14314 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
14316 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
14317 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
14318 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
14319 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
14320 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
14321 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
14322 @samp{subject}) first.
14324 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
14325 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
14336 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
14337 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
14343 ("subject" "Gnus")))
14350 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
14351 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
14356 @section Score Decays
14357 @cindex score decays
14360 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
14361 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
14362 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
14363 use them in any sensible way.
14365 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
14366 @findex gnus-decay-score
14367 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
14368 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
14369 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
14370 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
14371 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
14372 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
14373 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
14374 definition of that function:
14377 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
14379 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
14380 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
14383 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
14385 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
14387 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
14390 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
14391 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
14392 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
14393 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
14397 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
14400 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
14403 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
14407 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
14408 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
14409 the new score, which should be an integer.
14411 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
14412 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
14419 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
14420 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
14421 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
14422 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
14423 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
14424 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
14425 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
14426 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
14427 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
14428 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
14429 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
14430 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
14431 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
14432 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
14433 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
14434 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
14435 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
14436 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
14440 @node Process/Prefix
14441 @section Process/Prefix
14442 @cindex process/prefix convention
14444 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
14445 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
14447 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
14448 command to be performed on.
14452 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
14453 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
14454 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
14455 with the current one.
14457 @vindex transient-mark-mode
14458 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
14459 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
14461 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
14462 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
14465 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
14466 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
14468 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
14471 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
14472 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
14473 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
14474 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14476 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
14477 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
14478 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
14479 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
14480 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
14481 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
14482 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
14483 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
14487 @section Interactive
14488 @cindex interaction
14492 @item gnus-novice-user
14493 @vindex gnus-novice-user
14494 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
14495 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
14496 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
14497 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
14500 @item gnus-expert-user
14501 @vindex gnus-expert-user
14502 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
14503 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
14504 matter how strange.
14506 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
14507 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
14508 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
14509 is @code{t} by default.
14511 @item gnus-interactive-exit
14512 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
14513 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
14518 @node Symbolic Prefixes
14519 @section Symbolic Prefixes
14520 @cindex symbolic prefixes
14522 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
14523 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
14524 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
14525 rule of 900 to the current article.
14527 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
14528 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
14529 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
14530 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
14531 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
14532 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
14533 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
14535 @kindex M-i (Summary)
14536 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
14537 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
14538 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
14539 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
14540 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
14541 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
14542 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
14543 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
14545 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
14546 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
14547 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
14549 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
14553 @node Formatting Variables
14554 @section Formatting Variables
14555 @cindex formatting variables
14557 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
14558 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
14559 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
14560 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
14561 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
14564 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
14565 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
14566 lots of percentages everywhere.
14569 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
14570 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
14571 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
14572 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
14573 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
14576 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
14577 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
14578 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
14579 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
14580 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
14581 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
14582 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
14583 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
14585 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
14586 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
14588 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
14589 @findex gnus-update-format
14590 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
14591 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
14592 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
14593 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
14597 @node Formatting Basics
14598 @subsection Formatting Basics
14600 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
14601 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
14602 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
14604 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
14605 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
14606 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
14607 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
14608 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
14611 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
14612 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
14613 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
14614 less than 4 characters wide.
14617 @node Mode Line Formatting
14618 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
14620 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
14621 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
14622 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
14623 with the following two differences:
14628 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
14631 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
14632 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
14633 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
14634 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
14635 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
14636 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
14637 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
14642 @node Advanced Formatting
14643 @subsection Advanced Formatting
14645 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
14646 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
14647 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
14648 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
14650 These are the valid modifiers:
14655 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
14659 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
14664 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
14667 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
14672 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
14675 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
14678 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
14681 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
14685 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
14686 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
14687 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
14688 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
14689 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
14690 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
14691 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
14693 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
14694 last operation, padding.
14696 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
14697 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
14698 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
14699 @xref{Compilation}.
14702 @node User-Defined Specs
14703 @subsection User-Defined Specs
14705 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
14706 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
14707 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
14708 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
14709 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
14710 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
14711 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
14712 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
14713 should protect against that.
14715 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
14716 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
14717 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
14718 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
14722 @node Formatting Fonts
14723 @subsection Formatting Fonts
14725 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
14726 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
14727 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
14728 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
14731 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
14732 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
14733 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
14734 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
14735 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
14736 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
14738 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
14739 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say
14740 @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
14741 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or
14742 symbols naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
14743 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
14744 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
14745 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
14747 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
14750 ;; Create three face types.
14751 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
14752 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
14754 ;; We want the article count to be in
14755 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
14756 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
14757 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
14759 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
14760 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
14762 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
14763 (setq gnus-group-line-format
14764 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
14767 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
14768 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
14770 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
14771 mode-line variables.
14774 @node Windows Configuration
14775 @section Windows Configuration
14776 @cindex windows configuration
14778 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
14780 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
14781 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
14782 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
14783 @code{t} by default.
14785 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
14786 glitches. Use at your own peril.
14788 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
14789 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
14790 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
14793 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
14794 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
14795 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
14799 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
14800 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
14801 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
14802 possible names is listed below.
14804 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
14805 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
14808 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
14812 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
14813 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
14814 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
14815 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
14816 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
14817 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
14818 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
14819 size spec per split.
14821 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
14822 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
14823 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
14824 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
14825 present) gets focus.
14827 Here's a more complicated example:
14830 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
14831 (summary 0.25 point)
14832 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
14836 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
14837 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
14838 occupy, not a percentage.
14840 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
14841 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
14842 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
14843 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
14844 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
14847 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
14850 (article (horizontal 1.0
14855 (summary 0.25 point)
14860 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
14861 @code{horizontal} thingie?
14863 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
14864 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
14865 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
14866 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
14867 the screen is to be given to this strip.
14869 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
14870 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
14871 lines from the splits.
14873 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
14877 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
14878 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
14879 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
14880 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
14881 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
14882 size = number | frame-params
14883 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
14886 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
14887 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
14888 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
14889 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
14891 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
14892 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
14893 @cindex window height
14894 @cindex window width
14895 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
14896 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
14897 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
14898 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
14899 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
14900 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
14902 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
14903 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
14904 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
14905 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
14907 @findex gnus-configure-frame
14908 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
14909 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
14910 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
14911 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
14912 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
14913 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
14914 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
14915 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
14916 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
14917 configuration list.
14920 (gnus-configure-frame
14924 (article 0.3 point))
14932 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
14933 @code{frame} split:
14936 (gnus-configure-frame
14939 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
14941 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
14942 (user-position . t)
14943 (left . -1) (top . 1))
14948 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
14949 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
14950 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
14951 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
14952 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
14953 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
14954 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
14955 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
14957 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
14958 be found in its default value.
14960 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
14961 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
14962 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
14966 (message (horizontal 1.0
14967 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
14969 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
14974 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
14975 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
14976 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
14979 (message (frame 1.0
14980 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
14981 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
14982 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
14983 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
14984 (name . "Message"))
14985 (message 1.0 point))))
14988 @findex gnus-add-configuration
14989 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
14990 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
14991 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
14992 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
14995 (gnus-add-configuration
14996 '(article (vertical 1.0
14998 (summary .25 point)
15002 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
15003 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
15004 Gnus has been loaded.
15006 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
15007 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
15008 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
15009 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
15010 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
15012 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
15013 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
15014 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
15018 @node Faces and Fonts
15019 @section Faces and Fonts
15024 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
15025 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
15026 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
15031 @section Compilation
15032 @cindex compilation
15033 @cindex byte-compilation
15035 @findex gnus-compile
15037 Remember all those line format specification variables?
15038 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
15039 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
15040 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
15041 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
15042 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
15045 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
15046 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
15047 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
15048 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
15049 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
15050 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
15051 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
15055 @section Mode Lines
15058 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
15059 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
15060 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
15061 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
15062 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
15063 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
15064 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
15067 @cindex display-time
15069 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
15070 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
15071 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
15072 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
15073 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
15074 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
15075 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
15076 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
15079 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
15081 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
15082 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
15084 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
15085 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
15086 (length display-time-string)))))
15089 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
15090 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
15091 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
15092 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
15093 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
15096 @node Highlighting and Menus
15097 @section Highlighting and Menus
15099 @cindex highlighting
15102 @vindex gnus-visual
15103 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
15104 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
15105 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
15108 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
15109 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
15112 @item group-highlight
15113 Do highlights in the group buffer.
15114 @item summary-highlight
15115 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
15116 @item article-highlight
15117 Do highlights in the article buffer.
15119 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
15121 Create menus in the group buffer.
15123 Create menus in the summary buffers.
15125 Create menus in the article buffer.
15127 Create menus in the browse buffer.
15129 Create menus in the server buffer.
15131 Create menus in the score buffers.
15133 Create menus in all buffers.
15136 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
15137 buffers, you could say something like:
15140 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
15143 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
15146 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
15149 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
15150 in all Gnus buffers.
15152 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
15155 @item gnus-mouse-face
15156 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
15157 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
15158 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
15162 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
15166 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
15167 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
15168 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
15170 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
15171 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
15172 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
15174 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
15175 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
15176 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
15178 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
15179 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
15180 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
15182 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
15183 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
15184 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
15186 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
15187 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
15188 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
15199 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
15200 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
15201 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
15202 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
15203 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
15207 @vindex gnus-carpal
15208 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
15209 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
15210 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
15215 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
15216 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
15217 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
15219 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
15220 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
15221 Face used on buttons.
15223 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
15224 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
15225 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
15227 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
15228 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
15229 Buttons in the group buffer.
15231 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
15232 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
15233 Buttons in the summary buffer.
15235 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
15236 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
15237 Buttons in the server buffer.
15239 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
15240 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
15241 Buttons in the browse buffer.
15244 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
15245 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
15246 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
15254 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
15255 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
15256 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
15257 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
15258 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
15260 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
15261 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
15262 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
15264 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
15265 been idle for thirty minutes:
15268 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
15271 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
15275 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
15278 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
15279 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
15280 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
15282 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
15283 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
15284 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
15285 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
15287 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
15288 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
15289 @var{idle} minutes.
15291 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
15292 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
15295 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
15296 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
15297 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
15299 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
15300 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
15301 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
15302 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
15304 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
15305 your @file{.gnus} file:
15307 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
15309 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
15312 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
15313 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
15314 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
15315 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
15316 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
15317 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
15318 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
15319 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
15320 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
15321 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
15322 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
15324 @findex gnus-demon-init
15325 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
15326 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
15327 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
15328 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
15329 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
15331 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
15332 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
15333 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
15342 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
15343 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
15345 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
15346 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
15347 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
15348 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
15351 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
15352 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
15353 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
15354 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
15356 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
15357 this will make spam disappear.
15359 There are some variables to customize, of course:
15362 @item gnus-use-nocem
15363 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
15364 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
15367 @item gnus-nocem-groups
15368 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
15369 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
15370 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
15371 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
15373 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
15374 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
15375 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
15376 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
15377 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
15378 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
15379 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
15381 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
15384 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
15385 @cindex Chris Lewis
15386 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
15387 usenet abuse than anybody else.
15390 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
15391 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
15392 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
15394 @item jem@@xpat.com;
15396 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
15399 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
15400 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
15401 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
15404 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
15405 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
15406 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
15407 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
15408 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
15409 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
15410 @var{(issuer conditions ...)} elements in the list. Each condition is
15411 either a string (which is a regexp that matches types you want to use)
15412 or a list on the form @code{(not STRING)}, where @var{string} is a
15413 regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
15415 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
15416 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
15419 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
15422 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
15423 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
15426 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
15429 The specs are applied left-to-right.
15432 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
15433 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
15435 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
15436 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
15437 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
15438 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
15440 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
15441 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
15444 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
15446 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
15454 This might be dangerous, though.
15456 @item gnus-nocem-directory
15457 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
15458 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
15459 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
15461 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
15462 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
15463 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
15464 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
15465 might then see old spam.
15469 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
15470 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
15471 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
15472 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
15479 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
15480 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
15481 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
15483 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
15484 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
15485 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
15486 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
15487 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
15488 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
15489 @code{undo} function.
15491 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
15492 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
15493 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
15494 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
15495 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
15496 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
15497 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
15498 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
15499 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
15500 never be totally undoable.
15502 @findex gnus-undo-mode
15503 @vindex gnus-use-undo
15505 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
15506 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
15507 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
15508 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
15513 @section Moderation
15516 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
15517 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
15518 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
15521 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
15525 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
15528 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
15530 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
15535 You split your incoming mail by matching on
15536 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
15537 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
15540 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
15541 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
15544 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
15545 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
15549 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
15552 (setq gnus-moderated-list
15553 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
15557 @node XEmacs Enhancements
15558 @section XEmacs Enhancements
15561 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
15565 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
15566 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
15567 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
15568 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
15581 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
15582 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
15583 over your shoulder as you read news.
15586 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
15587 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
15588 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
15589 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
15590 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
15595 @subsubsection Picon Basics
15597 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
15606 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
15607 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
15608 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
15609 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
15610 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
15611 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
15612 @code{GIF} formats.
15615 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15616 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
15617 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
15618 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
15619 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
15621 @vindex gnus-picons-database
15622 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
15623 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
15624 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
15625 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
15626 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
15629 @node Picon Requirements
15630 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
15632 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
15633 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
15636 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
15637 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
15638 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
15640 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15641 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
15642 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
15643 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
15644 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
15648 @subsubsection Easy Picons
15650 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
15651 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
15654 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
15655 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
15658 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
15659 containing the Picons databases.
15661 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
15664 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15665 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
15670 @subsubsection Hard Picons
15678 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
15679 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
15680 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
15681 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
15682 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
15687 @item gnus-picons-database
15688 @vindex gnus-picons-database
15689 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
15690 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
15691 subdirectories. This is only useful if
15692 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
15693 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
15695 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15696 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15697 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
15698 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
15699 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
15700 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
15701 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
15703 @item gnus-picons-display-where
15704 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
15705 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
15706 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
15707 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
15708 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
15709 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
15710 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
15712 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
15713 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
15714 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
15719 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
15720 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
15722 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
15723 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
15726 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
15728 @item gnus-article-display-picons
15729 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
15730 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
15731 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
15733 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
15734 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
15735 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
15741 @node Picon Useless Configuration
15742 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
15750 The following variables offer further control over how things are
15751 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
15752 don't need to worry about.
15756 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
15757 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
15758 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
15759 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
15761 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
15762 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
15763 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
15764 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
15766 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
15767 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
15768 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
15769 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
15770 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
15772 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15773 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15774 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
15775 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
15776 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
15777 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
15778 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
15780 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
15781 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
15782 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
15783 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
15785 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
15786 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
15787 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
15788 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
15789 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
15790 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
15791 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
15793 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
15794 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
15795 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
15796 Defaults to @code{nil}.
15798 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
15799 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
15800 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
15801 Defaults to @code{t}.
15803 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
15804 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
15805 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
15806 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
15808 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
15809 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
15810 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
15812 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
15813 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
15814 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
15815 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
15817 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
15818 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the defailt.
15820 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
15821 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
15822 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
15823 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
15824 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
15825 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
15826 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
15827 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
15838 @subsection Smileys
15843 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
15848 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
15849 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
15851 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
15852 @file{.gnus.el} file:
15855 (setq gnus-treat-display-smiley t)
15858 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
15859 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
15860 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
15861 text and maps that to file names.
15863 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
15864 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
15865 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
15866 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
15867 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
15868 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
15870 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
15871 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
15873 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
15874 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
15875 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
15877 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
15878 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
15882 @item smiley-data-directory
15883 @vindex smiley-data-directory
15884 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
15886 @item smiley-flesh-color
15887 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
15888 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
15890 @item smiley-features-color
15891 @vindex smiley-features-color
15892 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
15894 @item smiley-tongue-color
15895 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
15896 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
15898 @item smiley-circle-color
15899 @vindex smiley-circle-color
15900 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
15902 @item smiley-mouse-face
15903 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
15904 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
15910 @subsection Toolbar
15920 @item gnus-use-toolbar
15921 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
15922 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
15923 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
15924 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
15926 @item gnus-group-toolbar
15927 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
15928 The toolbar in the group buffer.
15930 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
15931 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
15932 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
15934 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
15935 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
15936 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
15942 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
15945 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
15946 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
15947 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
15948 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
15949 unusual directory structure.
15951 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
15952 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
15953 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
15954 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
15956 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
15957 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
15958 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
15959 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
15960 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
15961 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
15963 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
15964 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
15965 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
15979 @node Fuzzy Matching
15980 @section Fuzzy Matching
15981 @cindex fuzzy matching
15983 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
15984 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
15986 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
15987 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
15988 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
15990 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
15991 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
15992 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
15993 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
15994 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
15997 @node Thwarting Email Spam
15998 @section Thwarting Email Spam
16002 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
16004 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
16005 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
16006 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
16007 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
16008 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
16009 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
16010 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
16011 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
16014 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
16015 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
16016 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
16017 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
16018 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
16019 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
16023 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
16024 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
16026 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
16027 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
16028 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
16029 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
16030 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
16031 part of the mail address.)
16034 (setq message-default-news-headers
16035 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
16038 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
16039 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
16044 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
16045 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
16046 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
16052 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
16053 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
16054 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
16055 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
16057 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
16058 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
16059 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
16060 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
16061 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
16062 your fancy split rule in this way:
16067 (to "larsi" "misc")
16071 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
16072 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
16073 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
16074 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
16075 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
16077 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
16078 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
16079 at @* @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
16080 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
16081 cosmic balance somewhat.
16083 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
16084 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
16085 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
16086 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
16089 @node Various Various
16090 @section Various Various
16096 @item gnus-home-directory
16097 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
16098 defaults to @file{~/}.
16100 @item gnus-directory
16101 @vindex gnus-directory
16102 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
16103 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
16104 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
16106 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
16107 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
16108 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
16109 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
16111 @item gnus-default-directory
16112 @vindex gnus-default-directory
16113 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
16114 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
16115 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
16116 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
16117 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
16118 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
16121 @vindex gnus-verbose
16122 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
16123 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
16124 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
16125 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
16126 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
16128 @item gnus-verbose-backends
16129 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
16130 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
16131 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
16133 @item nnheader-max-head-length
16134 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
16135 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
16136 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
16137 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
16138 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
16139 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
16140 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
16141 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
16142 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
16144 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
16145 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
16146 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
16147 read when doing the operation described above.
16149 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
16150 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
16152 @cindex invalid characters in file names
16153 @cindex characters in file names
16154 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
16155 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
16156 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
16159 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
16163 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
16164 Windows (phooey) systems.
16166 @item gnus-hidden-properties
16167 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
16168 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
16169 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
16170 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
16172 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
16173 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
16174 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
16175 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
16176 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
16178 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
16179 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
16180 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
16189 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
16190 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
16192 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
16194 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
16200 Not because of victories @*
16203 but for the common sunshine,@*
16205 the largess of the spring.
16209 but for the day's work done@*
16210 as well as I was able;@*
16211 not for a seat upon the dais@*
16212 but at the common table.@*
16217 @chapter Appendices
16220 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
16221 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
16222 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
16223 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
16224 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
16225 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
16226 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
16234 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
16235 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
16237 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
16238 can point your (feh!) web browser to
16239 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
16240 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
16241 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
16243 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
16244 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
16245 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
16246 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
16247 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
16248 appropriate name, don't you think?)
16250 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
16251 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
16252 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
16253 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
16255 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
16256 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
16257 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
16259 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
16260 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
16262 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
16263 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
16265 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37
16266 releases. If was released as ``Gnus 5.6 on March 8th 1998.
16268 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
16269 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
16270 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
16271 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
16272 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
16276 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
16277 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
16278 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
16279 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
16280 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
16281 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
16282 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
16289 What's the point of Gnus?
16291 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
16292 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
16293 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
16294 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
16295 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
16296 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
16297 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
16298 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
16299 keep track of millions of people who post?
16301 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
16302 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
16303 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
16304 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
16305 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
16306 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
16307 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
16308 every one of you to explore and invent.
16310 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
16311 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
16314 @node Compatibility
16315 @subsection Compatibility
16317 @cindex compatibility
16318 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
16319 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
16320 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
16325 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
16329 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
16332 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
16335 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
16336 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
16337 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
16338 important variables have their values copied into their global
16339 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
16340 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
16342 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
16343 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
16344 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
16345 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
16346 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
16350 @cindex highlighting
16351 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
16352 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
16353 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
16354 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
16355 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
16356 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
16359 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
16360 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
16361 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
16362 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
16364 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
16365 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
16366 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
16367 to stop doing it the old way.
16369 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
16371 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
16373 @cindex reporting bugs
16375 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
16376 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
16377 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
16379 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
16380 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
16381 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
16382 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
16387 @subsection Conformity
16389 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
16390 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
16397 There are no known breaches of this standard.
16401 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
16403 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
16404 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
16405 We do have some breaches to this one.
16411 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
16412 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
16413 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
16414 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
16415 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
16420 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
16421 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
16422 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
16423 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
16427 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
16428 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
16433 @subsection Emacsen
16439 Gnus should work on :
16447 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
16451 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
16452 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
16455 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
16456 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
16457 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
16462 @subsection Contributors
16463 @cindex contributors
16465 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
16466 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
16467 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
16468 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
16469 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
16470 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
16471 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
16472 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
16473 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
16474 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
16476 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
16482 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
16485 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
16486 well as numerous other things).
16489 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
16492 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
16495 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el and many other things
16496 connected with @sc{mime} and other types of en/decoding.
16499 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
16500 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
16503 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
16506 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
16507 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
16510 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
16513 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
16516 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
16519 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
16522 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
16523 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
16526 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
16529 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
16532 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
16535 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
16539 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
16542 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
16545 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
16548 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
16549 well as autoconf support.
16553 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
16554 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
16556 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
16565 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
16569 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
16592 Massimo Campostrini,
16600 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
16606 Michael Welsh Duggan,
16610 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
16614 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
16621 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
16623 Michelangelo Grigni,
16627 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
16629 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
16631 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
16636 François Felix Ingrand,
16637 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
16639 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
16648 Peter Skov Knudsen,
16649 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
16650 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
16651 Thor Kristoffersen,
16654 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
16672 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
16673 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
16680 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
16684 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
16688 John McClary Prevost,
16694 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
16699 Christian von Roques,
16702 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
16709 Philippe Schnoebelen,
16711 Randal L. Schwartz,
16742 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
16747 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
16748 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
16749 (550kB and counting).
16751 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
16754 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
16755 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
16759 @subsection New Features
16760 @cindex new features
16763 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
16764 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
16765 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
16766 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
16769 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
16770 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
16771 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
16775 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
16777 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
16782 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
16783 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
16786 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
16787 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
16790 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
16793 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
16794 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
16795 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
16798 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
16799 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
16800 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
16801 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
16804 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
16805 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16808 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
16809 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
16810 (@pxref{The Active File}).
16813 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
16814 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
16817 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
16818 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
16819 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
16822 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
16823 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
16824 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
16827 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
16828 the @file{.emacs} file.
16831 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
16832 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16835 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
16836 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
16839 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
16840 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16843 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
16844 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
16847 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
16848 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
16851 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
16854 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
16855 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
16858 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
16859 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
16862 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
16863 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
16866 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
16869 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
16870 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
16873 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
16877 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
16881 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
16882 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
16885 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
16891 @node September Gnus
16892 @subsubsection September Gnus
16896 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
16900 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
16905 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
16906 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
16910 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
16911 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
16915 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
16919 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
16920 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
16923 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
16927 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
16930 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
16933 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
16936 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
16940 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
16941 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
16944 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
16948 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
16952 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
16956 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
16960 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
16963 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
16964 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
16967 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
16971 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
16972 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
16975 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
16978 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
16979 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
16980 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
16983 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
16987 The Gnus cache is much faster.
16990 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
16994 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
16995 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
16998 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
16999 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
17002 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
17003 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
17006 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
17007 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
17008 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
17011 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
17012 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
17015 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
17018 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
17021 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
17024 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
17027 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
17028 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
17031 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
17035 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
17038 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
17043 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
17046 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
17050 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
17053 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
17057 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
17060 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
17063 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
17064 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
17067 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
17068 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
17072 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
17073 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
17076 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
17080 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
17081 buffer to allow easier treatment.
17084 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
17087 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
17091 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
17095 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
17096 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
17099 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
17103 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
17104 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
17107 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
17108 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
17111 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
17115 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
17118 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
17121 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
17127 @subsubsection Red Gnus
17129 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
17133 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
17140 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
17143 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
17144 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
17147 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
17148 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
17152 Article washing status can be displayed in the
17153 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
17156 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
17159 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
17160 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
17163 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
17167 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
17168 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
17172 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
17173 Server Internals}).
17176 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
17180 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
17183 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
17184 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
17187 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
17188 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
17189 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
17192 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
17193 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
17196 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
17197 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
17200 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
17204 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
17205 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
17208 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
17209 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
17212 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
17216 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
17219 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
17223 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
17224 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
17227 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
17228 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
17231 A new command for reading collections of documents
17232 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
17233 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
17236 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
17240 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
17241 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
17244 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
17245 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
17246 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
17249 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
17250 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
17254 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
17258 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
17262 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
17267 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
17271 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
17275 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
17276 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
17279 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
17285 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
17287 New features in Gnus 5.6:
17292 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
17293 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
17294 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
17297 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
17298 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
17299 group, which is created automatically.
17302 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
17306 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
17309 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
17310 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
17313 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
17317 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
17320 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
17321 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
17324 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
17327 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
17328 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
17331 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
17332 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
17335 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
17336 control over simplification.
17339 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
17342 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
17346 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
17349 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
17352 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
17353 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
17354 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
17357 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
17358 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
17361 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
17365 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
17366 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
17369 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
17370 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
17373 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
17377 A history of where mails have been split is available.
17380 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
17383 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
17384 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
17387 A new function for citing in Message has been
17388 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
17391 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
17394 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
17398 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
17399 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
17402 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
17403 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
17406 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
17409 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
17414 @node Newest Features
17415 @subsection Newest Features
17418 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
17421 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
17423 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
17424 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
17427 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
17432 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
17433 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
17436 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
17439 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
17442 facep is not declared.
17445 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
17446 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
17449 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
17454 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
17455 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
17456 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
17457 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
17458 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
17459 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
17460 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
17465 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
17468 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
17471 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
17473 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
17474 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
17476 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
17478 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
17480 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
17481 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
17483 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
17485 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
17486 be marked as unread.
17488 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
17490 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
17492 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
17493 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
17495 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
17497 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
17499 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
17500 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
17502 topics that contain just groups with ticked
17503 articles aren't displayed.
17505 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
17507 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
17508 make the mail groups killed.
17510 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
17512 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
17513 and articles have to be removed.
17515 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
17518 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
17520 finding short score file names takes forever.
17522 canceling articles in foreign groups.
17524 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
17526 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
17528 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
17530 nnweb doesn't work properly.
17532 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
17534 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
17535 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
17539 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
17541 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
17542 bar and the Gnus bar.
17545 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
17546 `(canonize-message-id id)'
17547 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
17548 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
17549 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
17550 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
17555 nnml .overview directory with splits.
17559 postponed commands.
17561 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
17563 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
17566 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
17567 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
17569 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
17570 inherit copy prompts and save files.
17572 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
17574 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
17575 for backends that support that.
17577 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
17579 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
17580 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
17582 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
17583 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
17585 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
17587 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
17589 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
17591 server mode command: close/open all connections
17593 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
17594 has been changed before using it.
17596 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
17598 hide (sub)threads with low score.
17600 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
17602 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
17604 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
17605 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
17607 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
17608 contain groups that match a regexp.
17610 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
17613 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
17616 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
17617 from subject lines.
17619 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
17621 nntp-ping-before-connect
17623 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
17625 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
17626 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
17628 message annotations.
17630 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
17632 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
17633 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
17635 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
17640 support qmail maildir spools
17642 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
17644 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
17646 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
17648 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
17649 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
17651 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
17653 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
17655 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
17656 finds and generate proper active ranges.
17658 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
17659 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
17661 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
17663 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
17665 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
17666 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
17668 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
17670 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
17672 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
17673 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
17676 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
17678 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
17680 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
17681 `C-c C-c' when posting.
17683 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
17686 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
17687 should be marker as expirable.
17689 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
17691 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
17692 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
17694 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
17695 Also consult Date headers.
17697 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
17699 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
17701 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
17702 Message-ID, delete the "original".
17704 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
17705 into a See-Also header.
17707 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
17709 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
17711 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
17712 should be listed as such and not as "K".
17714 generate font names dynamically.
17716 score file mode auto-alist.
17718 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
17719 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
17721 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
17722 absolutely all headers there is.
17724 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
17725 and pipe them to the process.
17727 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
17728 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
17729 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
17731 function for starting to edit a file to put into
17732 the current mail group.
17734 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
17736 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
17737 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
17739 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
17740 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
17742 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
17744 when replying to several process-marked articles,
17745 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
17747 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
17748 groups it has been mailed to.
17750 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
17752 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
17754 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
17756 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
17757 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
17759 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
17760 newlines) should be ignored.
17762 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
17763 groups in subtopics as well.
17765 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
17767 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
17770 add edit and forward secondary marks.
17772 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
17774 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
17776 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
17778 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
17780 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
17782 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
17783 or the formatted article.
17785 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
17787 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
17788 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
17790 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
17792 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
17794 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
17796 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
17797 even unread articles.
17799 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
17801 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
17803 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
17805 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
17807 canceling articles in foreign groups.
17809 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
17812 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
17813 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
17815 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
17816 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
17818 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
17820 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
17822 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
17823 from a particular server? Hm.
17825 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
17826 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
17828 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
17830 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
17831 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
17833 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
17834 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
17836 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
17837 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
17838 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
17841 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
17842 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
17844 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
17846 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
17848 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
17850 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
17853 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
17856 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
17857 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
17859 command to show and edit group scores
17861 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
17864 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
17866 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
17868 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
17869 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
17872 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
17873 that are of that length.
17875 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
17877 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
17879 asynchronous posting under nntp.
17881 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
17883 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
17885 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
17887 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
17888 a score lower than this number.
17890 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
17892 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
17894 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
17895 so that each copy can be edited separately.
17897 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
17899 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
17900 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
17902 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
17905 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
17906 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
17907 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
17908 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
17910 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
17913 command to remove all topic stuff.
17915 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
17916 and splitting the resulting digests.
17918 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
17920 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
17922 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
17923 matches an alist -- before saving.
17925 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
17927 variable to activate each group before entering them
17928 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
17930 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
17931 starting Gnus first if necessary.
17933 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
17934 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
17936 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
17938 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
17939 of several groups at once.
17941 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
17942 matches some regexp(s).
17944 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
17946 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
17948 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
17950 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
17952 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
17954 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
17956 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
17958 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
17959 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
17960 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
17961 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
17963 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
17964 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
17966 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
17968 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
17969 recently cited text.
17971 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
17973 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
17976 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
17977 server and just read the articles in the server
17979 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
17980 value of nnoo variables.
17982 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
17984 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
17985 listed in each group info.
17987 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
17990 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
17991 should only be applied to some groups.
17993 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
17994 mail-copies-to: never.
17996 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
17997 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
17999 the slave dribble files should auto-save to the slave file names.
18001 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
18004 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
18007 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
18009 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
18012 group user-defined meta-parameters.
18016 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
18018 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
18019 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
18020 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
18021 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
18022 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
18024 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at @*
18025 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
18032 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
18033 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
18035 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
18036 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
18038 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
18039 "Return the date the group was last read."
18040 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
18045 tanken var at når du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til å lete
18046 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den være en
18047 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
18048 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
18052 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
18053 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
18055 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
18058 They could be used like this:
18062 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
18063 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
18064 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
18066 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
18068 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
18071 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
18074 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
18075 affect the summary line format.
18079 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
18081 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
18082 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
18084 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
18087 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
18089 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
18091 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
18093 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
18095 - For other files, just find them normally.
18097 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
18098 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
18101 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
18102 tell him what you are doing.
18105 Currently, I get prompted:
18109 decend into sci.something ?
18113 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
18114 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
18115 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
18116 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
18119 Ja, det burde være en måte å si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
18120 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? SÃ¥ kunne score-regler legges til den
18121 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
18122 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
18125 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
18126 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
18132 more than n blank lines
18134 more than m identical lines
18135 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
18137 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
18141 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
18142 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
18143 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
18144 "same" subject for threading purposes.
18147 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
18148 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
18149 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
18150 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
18153 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
18156 soup - bowl of soup
18157 score below - dim light bulb
18158 score over - bright light bulb
18161 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
18166 show-list-of-articles-in-group
18167 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
18168 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
18169 if (articles-selected)
18170 start-reading-selected-articles;
18171 junk-unread-articles;
18176 else if (key-pressed = '.')
18177 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
18178 select-thread-under-cursor;
18180 select-article-under-cursor;
18184 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
18185 if (more-pages-in-article)
18187 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
18194 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
18195 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
18196 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
18199 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
18200 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
18201 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
18202 the wildcard expression).
18205 It would be nice if it also handled
18207 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
18209 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
18214 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
18215 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
18216 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
18217 article versions) variable.
18219 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
18221 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
18222 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
18226 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
18229 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
18230 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
18231 (message-sent-hook).
18233 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
18236 * Enhancements to Gnus:
18240 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
18241 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
18244 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
18245 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
18246 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
18249 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
18250 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
18254 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
18257 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
18261 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
18262 the nnmail duplicate checking.
18265 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
18266 value of the signature file.
18269 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
18270 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
18273 (setq message-tab-alist
18274 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
18275 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
18277 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
18281 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
18284 a command to import a buffer into a group.
18287 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
18290 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
18291 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
18294 a command to process mark all unread articles.
18297 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
18298 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
18299 do more gathering by subject.
18302 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
18303 article numerical order.
18306 (gnus-thread-total-score
18307 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
18311 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
18314 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
18315 in the summary buffer.
18318 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
18319 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
18322 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
18323 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
18324 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
18325 and/or newsgroup name.
18328 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
18331 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
18334 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
18337 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
18338 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
18339 will automatically get the process mark.
18342 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
18343 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
18344 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
18347 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
18351 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
18352 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
18355 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
18356 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
18360 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
18361 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
18364 be able to post via DejaNews.
18367 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
18370 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
18371 allow them to be displayed separately.
18374 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
18375 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
18378 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
18379 articles that match a certain From header.
18382 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
18383 saving living summary buffers.
18386 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
18387 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
18390 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
18391 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
18394 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
18395 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
18398 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
18399 (goto-char (point-min))
18400 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
18401 (replace-match "`" t t))
18402 (goto-char (point-min))
18403 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
18404 (replace-match "'" t t))
18405 (goto-char (point-min))
18406 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
18407 (replace-match "\"" t t))
18408 (goto-char (point-min))
18409 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
18410 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
18415 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
18417 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
18418 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
18419 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
18420 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
18424 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
18427 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
18428 numbers and match on the age of the article.
18432 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
18433 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
18434 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
18436 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
18437 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
18439 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
18440 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
18445 all commands that react to the process mark should push
18446 the current process mark set onto the stack.
18449 gnus-article-hide-pgp
18450 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt å slette den dersom teksten matcher
18452 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
18454 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
18455 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
18458 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
18459 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
18462 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
18466 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
18467 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
18470 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
18473 nndraft-request-group should tally auto-save files.
18476 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
18479 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
18483 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
18489 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
18492 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
18496 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
18497 X characters in the body.
18500 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
18503 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
18506 format spec to "tab" to a position.
18509 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
18512 command to display all dormant articles.
18515 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
18518 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
18519 to something someone else has said.
18522 Read Netscape discussion groups:
18523 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
18526 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
18527 the displayed version.
18530 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
18534 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
18537 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
18538 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
18539 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
18543 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
18544 in the head or body.
18547 Allow breaking lengthy NNTP commands.
18550 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
18553 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
18554 in a special, unique buffer.
18557 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
18560 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
18561 is less than a certain number of days old.
18564 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
18567 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
18570 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
18571 file, for instance.
18574 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
18575 in any other dummy thread will make Gnus highlight the
18576 dummy root instead of the first article.
18579 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
18580 topics for displaying.
18583 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
18584 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
18587 gnus-posting-styles doesn't work in drafts.
18590 gnus-summary-limit-include-cached is slow when there are
18591 many articles in the cache, since it regenerates big parts of the
18592 summary buffer for each article.
18595 Implement gnus-batch-brew-soup.
18598 Group parameters and summary commands for un/subscribing to mailing
18602 Introduce nnmail-home-directory.
18605 gnus-fetch-group and friends should exit Gnus when the user
18609 The jingle is only played on the second invocation of Gnus.
18612 Bouncing articles should do MIME.
18615 Crossposted articles should "inherit" the % or @ mark from the other
18616 groups it has been crossposted to, or something. (Agent.)
18619 `S D r' should allow expansion of aliases.
18622 If point is on a group that appears multiple times in topics, and
18623 you press `l', point will move to the first instance of the group.
18626 The documentation should mention pop3.el, fetchmail, smtpmail and why
18627 po:username often fails.
18630 Fetch by Message-ID from dejanews.
18632 <URL:http://search.dejanews.com/msgid.xp?MID=%3C62h9l9$hm4@@basement.replay.com%3E&fmt=raw>
18635 A spec for the group line format to display the number of
18636 agent-downloaded articles in the group.
18639 Some nntp servers never respond when posting, so there should be a
18640 timeout for all commands.
18643 Solve the halting problem.
18652 @section The Manual
18656 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
18657 either @code{texi2dvi}
18659 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
18660 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
18662 to get what you hold in your hands now.
18664 The following conventions have been used:
18669 This is a @samp{string}
18672 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
18675 This is a @file{file}
18678 This is a @code{symbol}
18682 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
18686 (setq flargnoze "yes")
18689 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
18692 (setq flumphel 'yes)
18695 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
18696 ever get them confused.
18700 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
18701 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
18702 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
18703 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
18704 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
18705 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
18706 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
18714 @section Terminology
18716 @cindex terminology
18721 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
18722 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
18723 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
18724 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
18725 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
18729 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
18730 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
18731 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
18732 not posting, and replying is not following up.
18736 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
18740 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
18745 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
18746 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
18747 is all done by the backends.
18751 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
18752 default, way of getting news.
18756 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
18757 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
18762 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
18763 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
18767 A message that has been posted as news.
18770 @cindex mail message
18771 A message that has been mailed.
18775 A mail message or news article
18779 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
18784 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
18789 A line from the head of an article.
18793 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
18794 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
18798 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
18799 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
18800 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
18801 normal @sc{head} format.
18805 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
18806 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
18807 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
18808 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
18809 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
18810 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
18812 @item killed groups
18813 @cindex killed groups
18814 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
18815 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
18817 @item zombie groups
18818 @cindex zombie groups
18819 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
18822 @cindex active file
18823 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
18824 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
18825 is rather large, as you might surmise.
18828 @cindex bogus groups
18829 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
18830 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
18831 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
18834 @cindex activating groups
18835 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
18836 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
18837 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
18841 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
18843 @item select method
18844 @cindex select method
18845 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
18848 @item virtual server
18849 @cindex virtual server
18850 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
18851 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
18852 whole is a virtual server.
18856 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
18857 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
18860 @item ephemeral groups
18861 @cindex ephemeral groups
18862 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
18863 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
18864 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
18867 @cindex solid groups
18868 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
18869 group buffer are solid groups.
18871 @item sparse articles
18872 @cindex sparse articles
18873 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
18874 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
18878 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
18879 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
18883 @cindex thread root
18884 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
18885 articles in the thread.
18889 An article that has responses.
18893 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
18897 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
18898 specified by RFC1153.
18904 @node Customization
18905 @section Customization
18906 @cindex general customization
18908 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
18909 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
18910 for some quite common situations.
18913 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
18914 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
18915 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
18916 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
18920 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
18921 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
18923 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
18924 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
18925 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
18929 @item gnus-read-active-file
18930 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
18931 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
18932 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
18933 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
18934 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
18936 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
18937 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
18938 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
18939 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
18943 @node Slow Terminal Connection
18944 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
18946 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
18947 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
18948 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
18952 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
18953 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
18954 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
18955 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
18956 horizontal and vertical recentering.
18958 @item gnus-visible-headers
18959 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
18960 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
18961 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
18962 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
18964 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
18966 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
18967 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
18968 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
18971 @item gnus-use-full-window
18972 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
18973 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
18974 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
18975 want to read them anyway.
18977 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
18978 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
18981 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
18982 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
18983 lines, which might save some time.
18987 @node Little Disk Space
18988 @subsection Little Disk Space
18991 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
18992 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
18996 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
18997 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
18998 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
18999 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
19002 @item gnus-save-killed-list
19003 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
19004 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
19005 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
19006 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
19012 @subsection Slow Machine
19013 @cindex slow machine
19015 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
19016 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
19018 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
19019 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
19021 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
19022 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
19023 summary buffer faster.
19027 @node Troubleshooting
19028 @section Troubleshooting
19029 @cindex troubleshooting
19031 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
19039 Make sure your computer is switched on.
19042 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
19043 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
19047 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
19048 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
19049 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
19050 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
19053 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
19057 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
19058 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
19059 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
19060 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
19061 something like that.
19064 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
19067 @cindex reporting bugs
19069 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
19071 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
19072 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
19073 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
19074 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
19076 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
19077 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
19078 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
19079 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
19082 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
19083 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
19084 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
19085 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
19086 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
19087 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
19089 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
19090 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
19091 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
19094 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
19095 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
19097 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
19098 @cindex ding mailing list
19099 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
19100 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
19104 @node Gnus Reference Guide
19105 @section Gnus Reference Guide
19107 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
19108 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
19109 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
19110 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
19113 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
19114 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
19115 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
19116 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
19117 and general methods of operation.
19120 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
19121 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
19122 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
19123 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
19124 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
19125 * Group Info:: The group info format.
19126 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
19127 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
19128 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
19132 @node Gnus Utility Functions
19133 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
19134 @cindex Gnus utility functions
19135 @cindex utility functions
19137 @cindex internal variables
19139 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
19140 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
19141 Below is a list of the most common ones.
19145 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
19146 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
19147 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
19149 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
19150 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
19151 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
19153 @item gnus-group-real-name
19154 @findex gnus-group-real-name
19155 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
19158 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
19159 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
19160 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
19161 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
19163 @item gnus-get-info
19164 @findex gnus-get-info
19165 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
19167 @item gnus-group-unread
19168 @findex gnus-group-unread
19169 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
19173 @findex gnus-active
19174 The active entry for @var{group}.
19176 @item gnus-set-active
19177 @findex gnus-set-active
19178 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
19180 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
19181 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
19182 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
19185 @item gnus-continuum-version
19186 @findex gnus-continuum-version
19187 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
19188 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
19191 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
19192 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
19193 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
19195 @item gnus-news-group-p
19196 @findex gnus-news-group-p
19197 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
19199 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
19200 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
19201 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
19203 @item gnus-server-to-method
19204 @findex gnus-server-to-method
19205 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
19207 @item gnus-server-equal
19208 @findex gnus-server-equal
19209 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
19211 @item gnus-group-native-p
19212 @findex gnus-group-native-p
19213 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
19215 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
19216 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
19217 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
19219 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
19220 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
19221 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
19223 @item group-group-find-parameter
19224 @findex group-group-find-parameter
19225 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
19226 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
19228 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
19229 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
19230 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
19232 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
19233 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
19234 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
19236 @item gnus-check-backend-function
19237 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
19238 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
19239 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
19242 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
19246 @item gnus-read-method
19247 @findex gnus-read-method
19248 Prompts the user for a select method.
19253 @node Backend Interface
19254 @subsection Backend Interface
19256 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
19257 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
19258 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
19259 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
19260 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
19261 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
19263 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
19264 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
19265 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
19266 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
19267 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
19268 been opened, the function should fail.
19270 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
19271 name. Take this example:
19275 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
19276 (nntp-port-number 4324))
19279 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
19280 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
19282 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
19283 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
19284 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
19286 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
19287 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
19288 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
19290 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
19291 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
19292 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
19293 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
19294 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
19295 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
19298 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
19299 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
19300 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
19301 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
19304 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
19307 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
19310 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
19311 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
19312 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
19313 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
19314 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
19315 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
19319 @node Required Backend Functions
19320 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
19324 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
19326 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
19327 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
19328 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
19329 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
19331 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
19332 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
19333 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
19334 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
19336 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
19337 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
19338 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
19339 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
19340 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
19341 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
19342 number, do maximum fetches.
19344 Here's an example HEAD:
19347 221 1056 Article retrieved.
19348 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
19349 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
19350 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
19351 Subject: Re: Something very droll
19352 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
19353 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
19355 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
19356 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
19357 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
19361 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
19362 these in the data buffer.
19364 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
19368 head = error / valid-head
19369 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
19370 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
19371 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
19372 header = <text> eol
19375 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
19376 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
19380 nov-buffer = *nov-line
19381 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
19382 field = <text except TAB>
19385 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
19389 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
19391 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
19392 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
19394 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
19395 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
19396 server. In fact, it should do so.
19398 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
19399 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
19402 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
19404 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
19405 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
19408 There should be no data returned.
19411 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
19413 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
19414 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
19415 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
19416 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
19418 There should be no data returned.
19421 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
19423 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
19424 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
19425 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
19426 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
19428 There should be no data returned.
19431 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
19433 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
19435 There should be no data returned.
19438 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
19440 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
19441 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
19442 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
19443 it would be nice if that were possible.
19445 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
19446 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
19447 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
19448 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
19449 into its article buffer.
19451 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
19452 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
19453 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
19454 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
19455 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
19456 on successful article retrieval.
19459 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
19461 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
19462 making @var{group} the current group.
19464 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
19467 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
19470 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
19473 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
19474 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
19475 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
19476 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
19477 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
19478 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
19479 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
19480 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
19483 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
19484 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
19485 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
19489 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
19491 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
19492 a no-op on most backends.
19494 There should be no data returned.
19497 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
19499 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
19502 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
19505 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
19506 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
19509 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
19510 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
19513 active-file = *active-line
19514 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
19516 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
19519 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
19520 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
19521 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
19524 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
19526 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
19527 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
19528 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
19529 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
19530 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
19531 clear if the posting could not be completed.
19533 There should be no result data from this function.
19538 @node Optional Backend Functions
19539 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
19543 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
19545 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
19546 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
19547 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
19549 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
19550 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
19551 former is in the same format as the data from
19552 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
19553 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
19556 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
19560 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
19562 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
19563 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
19564 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
19565 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
19566 should return the (altered) group info.
19568 There should be no result data from this function.
19571 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
19573 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
19574 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
19575 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
19576 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
19577 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
19578 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
19579 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
19580 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
19582 There should be no result data from this function.
19585 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
19587 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
19588 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
19589 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as IMAP) however carry all
19590 information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to propagate
19591 the mark information to the server.
19593 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
19596 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
19599 Range is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. Action is
19600 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
19601 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
19602 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
19603 mentioned) marks. Mark is a list of marks; where each mark is a
19604 symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
19605 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
19606 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
19607 not limit itself to theese.
19609 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
19610 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
19611 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
19612 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
19614 An example action list:
19617 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
19618 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
19619 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
19622 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
19623 mark on (currently not used for anything).
19625 There should be no result data from this function.
19627 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
19629 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
19630 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
19631 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
19632 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
19633 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
19635 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
19636 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
19637 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
19640 There should be no result data from this function.
19643 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
19645 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
19646 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
19647 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
19648 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
19649 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
19650 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
19651 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
19653 There should be no result data from this function.
19656 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
19658 The result data from this function should be a description of
19662 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
19664 description = <text>
19667 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
19669 The result data from this function should be the description of all
19670 groups available on the server.
19673 description-buffer = *description-line
19677 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
19679 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
19680 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
19681 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
19684 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
19686 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
19688 There should be no return data.
19691 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
19693 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
19694 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
19695 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
19696 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
19697 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
19700 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
19703 There should be no result data returned.
19706 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
19709 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
19710 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
19712 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
19713 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
19714 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
19715 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
19716 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
19717 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
19719 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
19720 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
19723 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
19724 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
19726 There should be no data returned.
19729 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
19731 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
19732 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
19733 this function in short order.
19735 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
19736 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
19738 There should be no data returned.
19741 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
19743 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
19744 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
19746 There should be no data returned.
19749 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
19751 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
19752 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
19753 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
19755 There should be no data returned.
19758 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
19760 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
19761 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
19763 There should be no data returned.
19768 @node Error Messaging
19769 @subsubsection Error Messaging
19771 @findex nnheader-report
19772 @findex nnheader-get-report
19773 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
19774 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
19775 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
19776 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
19777 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
19778 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
19781 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
19783 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
19786 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
19787 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
19788 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
19789 takes one argument---the server symbol.
19791 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
19792 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
19793 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
19796 @node Writing New Backends
19797 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
19799 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
19800 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
19801 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
19802 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
19803 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
19806 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
19807 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
19808 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
19810 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
19811 package called @code{nnoo}.
19813 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
19814 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
19820 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
19821 parameters. For instance:
19824 (nnoo-declare nndir
19828 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
19829 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
19832 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
19833 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
19834 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
19836 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
19837 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
19838 a function in those backends.
19841 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
19842 "Where nndir will look for groups."
19843 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
19846 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
19847 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
19848 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
19850 @item nnoo-define-basics
19851 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
19855 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
19859 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
19860 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
19861 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
19863 @item nnoo-map-functions
19864 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
19865 functions from the parent backends.
19868 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
19869 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19870 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
19873 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
19874 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
19875 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
19876 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
19879 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
19880 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
19881 haven't already been defined.
19887 nnmh-request-newgroups)
19891 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
19892 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
19893 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
19898 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
19901 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
19902 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
19906 (require 'nnheader)
19910 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
19912 (nnoo-declare nndir
19915 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
19916 "Where nndir will look for groups."
19917 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
19919 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
19920 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
19923 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
19924 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
19925 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
19927 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
19928 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
19930 ;;; Interface functions.
19932 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
19934 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
19935 (setq nndir-directory
19936 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
19938 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
19939 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
19940 (push `(nndir-current-group
19941 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
19943 (push `(nndir-top-directory
19944 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
19946 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
19948 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
19949 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19950 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19951 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
19952 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
19956 nnmh-status-message
19958 nnmh-request-newgroups))
19964 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
19965 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
19967 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
19968 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
19969 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
19970 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
19972 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
19973 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
19978 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
19981 The abilities can be:
19985 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
19987 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
19989 This backend supports both mail and news.
19991 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
19994 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
19995 articles and groups.
19997 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
19998 true for almost all backends.
19999 @item prompt-address
20000 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
20001 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
20002 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
20006 @node Mail-like Backends
20007 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
20009 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
20010 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
20011 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
20012 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
20015 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
20016 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
20017 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
20020 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
20021 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
20024 This function takes four parameters.
20028 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
20031 @item exit-function
20032 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
20034 @item temp-directory
20035 Where the temporary files should be stored.
20038 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
20039 performed for one group only.
20042 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
20043 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
20044 find the article number assigned to this article.
20046 The function also uses the following variables:
20047 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
20048 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
20049 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
20050 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
20054 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
20055 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
20059 @node Score File Syntax
20060 @subsection Score File Syntax
20062 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
20063 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
20064 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
20066 Here's a typical score file:
20070 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
20077 BNF definition of a score file:
20080 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
20081 element = rule / atom
20082 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
20083 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
20084 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
20085 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
20087 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
20088 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
20089 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
20090 date-header = "date"
20091 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
20092 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
20093 score = "nil" / <integer>
20094 date = "nil" / <natural number>
20095 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
20096 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
20097 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
20098 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
20099 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
20100 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
20101 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
20102 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
20103 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
20104 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
20105 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
20106 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
20107 exclude-files / read-only / touched
20108 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
20109 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
20110 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
20111 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
20112 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
20113 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
20114 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
20115 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
20116 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
20117 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
20118 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
20119 eval = "eval" space <form>
20120 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
20123 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
20126 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
20127 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
20128 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
20129 one looong line, then that's ok.
20131 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
20132 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
20136 @subsection Headers
20138 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
20139 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
20140 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
20141 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
20143 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
20144 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
20145 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
20146 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
20147 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
20148 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
20149 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
20151 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
20152 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
20153 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
20154 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
20155 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
20157 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
20158 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
20164 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
20165 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
20167 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
20168 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
20169 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
20170 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
20172 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
20176 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
20179 is transformed into
20182 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
20185 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
20186 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
20189 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
20192 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
20193 is slightly tricky:
20196 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
20202 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
20205 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
20211 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
20218 and is equal to the previous range.
20220 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
20221 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
20222 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
20226 range = simple-range / normal-range
20227 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
20228 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
20229 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
20230 number *[ " " contents ]
20233 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
20234 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
20235 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
20236 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
20237 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
20242 @subsection Group Info
20244 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
20245 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
20246 describes the group.
20248 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
20249 second is a more complex one:
20252 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
20254 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
20255 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
20257 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
20260 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
20261 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
20262 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
20263 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
20264 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
20265 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
20266 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
20267 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
20268 this section is about.
20270 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
20271 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
20272 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
20274 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
20277 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
20278 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
20279 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
20280 group = quote <string> quote
20281 ralevel = rank / level
20282 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
20283 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
20284 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
20286 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
20287 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
20288 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
20289 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
20292 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
20293 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
20296 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
20297 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
20300 @item gnus-info-group
20301 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
20302 @findex gnus-info-group
20303 @findex gnus-info-set-group
20304 Get/set the group name.
20306 @item gnus-info-rank
20307 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
20308 @findex gnus-info-rank
20309 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
20310 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
20312 @item gnus-info-level
20313 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
20314 @findex gnus-info-level
20315 @findex gnus-info-set-level
20316 Get/set the group level.
20318 @item gnus-info-score
20319 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
20320 @findex gnus-info-score
20321 @findex gnus-info-set-score
20322 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
20324 @item gnus-info-read
20325 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
20326 @findex gnus-info-read
20327 @findex gnus-info-set-read
20328 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
20330 @item gnus-info-marks
20331 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
20332 @findex gnus-info-marks
20333 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
20334 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
20336 @item gnus-info-method
20337 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
20338 @findex gnus-info-method
20339 @findex gnus-info-set-method
20340 Get/set the group select method.
20342 @item gnus-info-params
20343 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
20344 @findex gnus-info-params
20345 @findex gnus-info-set-params
20346 Get/set the group parameters.
20349 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
20350 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
20352 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
20353 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
20354 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
20355 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
20358 @node Extended Interactive
20359 @subsection Extended Interactive
20360 @cindex interactive
20361 @findex gnus-interactive
20363 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
20364 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
20365 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
20368 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
20369 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
20374 The best thing to do would have been to implement
20375 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
20376 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
20377 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
20378 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
20379 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
20380 @code{interactive}.
20382 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
20387 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
20388 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
20392 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
20393 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
20394 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
20397 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
20401 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
20405 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
20411 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
20412 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
20416 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
20417 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
20418 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
20420 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
20421 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
20422 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
20423 Gnus, that's very useful.
20425 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
20426 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
20427 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
20428 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
20429 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
20430 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
20431 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
20432 following function:
20435 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
20439 (,function ,@@args))
20443 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
20444 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
20445 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
20448 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
20449 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
20450 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
20452 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
20453 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
20454 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
20457 @node Various File Formats
20458 @subsection Various File Formats
20461 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
20462 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
20466 @node Active File Format
20467 @subsubsection Active File Format
20469 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
20470 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
20473 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
20476 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
20477 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
20478 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
20479 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
20480 no.general 1000 900 y
20483 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
20486 active = *group-line
20487 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
20488 group = <non-white-space string>
20490 high-number = <non-negative integer>
20491 low-number = <positive integer>
20492 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
20495 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
20496 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
20499 @node Newsgroups File Format
20500 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
20502 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
20503 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
20504 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
20507 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
20508 Here's the definition:
20512 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
20513 group = <non-white-space string>
20515 description = <string>
20520 @node Emacs for Heathens
20521 @section Emacs for Heathens
20523 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
20524 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
20525 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
20526 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
20527 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
20528 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
20529 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
20533 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
20534 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
20539 @subsection Keystrokes
20543 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
20546 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
20549 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
20550 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
20551 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
20552 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
20553 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
20554 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
20556 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
20557 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
20558 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
20559 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
20560 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
20561 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
20562 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
20564 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
20565 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
20566 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
20567 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
20568 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
20569 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
20570 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
20572 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
20573 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
20574 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
20575 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
20576 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
20582 @subsection Emacs Lisp
20584 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
20585 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
20586 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
20587 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
20589 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
20590 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
20591 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
20592 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
20593 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
20594 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
20595 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
20598 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
20599 write the following:
20602 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
20605 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
20606 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
20607 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
20610 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
20611 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
20612 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
20613 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
20614 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
20616 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
20617 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
20618 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
20622 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
20626 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
20629 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
20630 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
20633 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
20636 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
20637 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
20640 @include gnus-faq.texi